MOTU Horde War Book 5: Swords of Power
by Deltara
Summary: The Guardian Force continues its mission to restore He-man and She-ra as the guiding light of hope in the galaxy. They will challenge Hordak's domain on Etheria to reclaim his most prized trophies. The Sword of Power and the Sword of Protection. When the Guardians and Hordak's army collide, he will get an education in true warfare. Earth style. Ch 17 up.
1. Dramatis Persone

Dramatis Personae

 **Guardians**

Adrian Cobretti – War Wing armor (American)

Sonya Boradni – Hawk armor (Russian)

Jake Rockwell – Gatling Arm armor (American)

Brad Johnson – Claw armor (German)

Jeromy Ironwood – Blitzkrieg armor (British)

Sorceress of Grayskull – Falcon armor (Eternian)

 **Guardian Command**

Brigadier General Eugene 'Mean Gene' Hammond – commander

Nicholas 'Nick' Jackson – Research and Development Division Chief

Gabriel 'Gabe' Burns – Research and Development Section Leader

Blain Robards – Chief Scientific Research Specialist

Doctor Susan Blanchard – Guardian Command Chief Surgeon

Colonel Jonathon Markson – Guardian Force commander, Alpha Platoon commander

Captain Hohiro Takamora – Charlie Platoon commander

 **Starship** _ **Eternia**_

Colonel Jo-jo Majourny – captain

Lt. Conner 'Ace' McCloud – helmsman

Ensign Comorov – navigation

Lt. Novina Satori – science specialist

Lt. Alexandra Callahan – computer systems specialist

Lt Harvey 'Harley' Denton – tactical specialist

Lt. Rodney Santana – chief engineer

Lt. Commander Emilio Carter – chief medical officer

 **Horde Forces**

Hordak – Ruler of Etheria

Shadow Weaver – (Light Spinner) Former apprentice of Castaspella

Modulok – Hordak's chief scientist

Mantenna

Grizzlor

 **Crew of the Battlestar** _ **Defiant**_

Mundu – Commander

Colonel Shabala – First Officer

Major Oran – Assault Forces Commander

Captain Sithas – Squadron Commander

 **Old Alliance**

Empress – deposed ruler

Lord Malkor – Supreme commander

Cilian – Malkor's aid

Shiva

 **Masters of the Universe**

He-man/Prince Adam

She-ra/Princess Adora

Frosta – Queen of Castle Chill on the Kingdom of Snows

Castaspella – Queen of Mystacor

Peek-a-blue

Queen Angella – Queen of Bright Moon

Glimmer – Princess of Bright Moon, daughter of Queen Angella


	2. Prologue

Prologue

Deep Space

Old Alliance Fleet Base

1 August 2017

Transferring from the largely disabled fleet to the deactivated fleet base was progressing well, if a little slow for the Empress' taste. Many of the warships were salvageable, but required extensive repairs due to the ravages of time drifting through space. Those repairs had been prioritized on the basis of which ships needed the least repair to get them functional.

The discovery of the lost recon squadron was a boon for the Alliance forces. The Empress had her concerns about this development, however. While Commander Axarod seemed sincere enough, the idea of a unit being cut off from the main fleet and struggling to survive without any means of support went against the Alliance code. These descendants knew only stories about the Alliance. No one from the time of the Great War survived. Would they really rejoin her surviving forces, or stay apart and hidden? At some point the Empress would have to confront Axarod and get her answer.

But that would have to wait.

The Empress was in a large chamber found to be suitable as a new throne room. A temporary one. She and Lord Malkor awaited the return of their best special operations operative who had been sent to investigate the current status of the Val-kyrie. They had already read Shiva's official report, but there always things not put into reports that were of more interest.

It was the brief statement of the first-hand encounter with one of the Guardians that drew their attention the most. That the Val-kyrie would not be of a mind to return to the Alliance had almost been a foregone conclusion, but confirmation was also good.

The guards at the entranced turned as one when the doors parted; the guard on the other side had alerted them to Shiva's arrival. They watched as the warrior strode purposefully past them without looking at either one. The guards returned to their positions as the doors closed.

Shiva strode across the ebony deck plates with smooth measured strides that hid her inner turmoil. She kept her face locked in an impassive mask and almost prayed that her superiors would not be able to sense the conflict within. Her orders had been to observe and report back, not to engage any of the Guardians. However, in order to make out of the Senate Hall with Serenvee, Shiva had to engage the one they called War Wing.

And now she was being called to account for her actions.

"Empress. Lord Malkor," Shia said, stopping before the throne and bowing.

Like all of her people, the Empress' skin was blue/black and she had the characteristic red eye sockets that made her people look like demons to other races. The Empress also had an exotic beauty professional models would kill for. When she spoke, her voice had a resonant echo to it, also an inherent trait of her people.

"Welcome home, warrior. I trust your flight out of Val-kyrie space was uneventful?"

"It was, Empress. The warrior women were too busy with ending their civil war to notice a lone scout ship leaving the system," Shiva answered. She and Serenvee had been in such a rush to get out that the cloak on Serenvee's ship had not been used.

"Good. You know why you have been asked to come before us?"

Shiva hesitated. "I..have an idea."

"It's not what you may be thinking, warrior," the Empress replied soothingly. "Gone are the days when we squandered our resources needlessly. Your report on the events in Val-kyrie space was comprehensive; however, we are much more interested in those things that are usually left out of reports."

Shiva suddenly understood. While her report on the descendants of the recon squadron was detailed and to the point, personal feelings were left out. The same with chronicling the events of the brief Val-kyrie civil war.

Standing a little straighter, Shiva said, "First I must apologize for my failure."

Amused, Lord Malkor asked, "And what would that be?"

"My orders were to gather information on the current status of the Val-kyrie, and to discover whatever information I could about the resurrected Guardians. Under no circumstances was I to engage a Guardian in combat. In that last part, I failed. As I stated in my report, I had to engage the one called War Wing in order to get myself and Serenvee out of the Senate Hall."

The Empress nodded. "Then that is where we will start. What is your opinion of the Guardian you engaged?"

Shiva paused to frame her thoughts. "He knew how to handle the suit. What information Senator Bregata managed to access made it clear that the new operators of the battlesuits can handle them effectively in a battle. In fact, they have had several engagements with Horde Prime's forces already. In each, Horde Prime suffered a disastrous loss. If you are wondering if they will join us in fighting Horde Prime, I would have to say, no, they won't. While they will engage the Horde, returning to us is out of the question."

"How can you know this?" the Empress demanded.

Psychological profiles, done correctly, were extensive. Senator Bregata managed to get her hands on the profiles of all six people operating the lost battlesuits. It didn't take long to come to the same conclusion as Shiva, but the Empress wanted to know by what means she had arrived at that conclusion.

"I believe what Shiva means is that while the profiles Bregata accessed tell one side of the story, one does not really know a warrior until one engages them in battle," Lord Malkor explained. Turning to Shiva, he continued, "While my orders were clear, it must be acknowledged that situations can arise where certain orders need to be violated in order to execute the spirit in which they were issued. To that end, Shiva, I find no fault in your actions. You did not engage the Guardian any longer than necessary in order to make it out intact and bring us this data. For that you have our thanks."

"Yes, indeed," the Empress added, leaning back in her throne. She was satisfied with the explanation. For now.

The debrief continued with Shiva's assessment of each battlesuit, the possible upgrades made – all conjecture because the senator did not have access to that information – and opinions on the actual battle footage retrieved from the engagements at the prison, and in and around the Senate Hall. The experiment had succeeded beyond anything they could have hoped for, but it was also clear that, while a success, the experiment was also a total disaster; attempting to recover the lost battlesuits would only result in their total destruction.

That could not be allowed. Somehow, the experiment had to be recovered. Sooner or later their ancient enemy would find them and the Empress had to be ready. That meant repatriating Commander Axelrod's people into the Alliance, defeating Horde Prime, and building an army the likes of which the universe had never seen in order to return home and liberate it from a soulless enemy that made even the Evil Horde pale in comparison.

2


	3. Ch 1

One

Pretoria Research and Training Base

Planet Val-kyre

1 August 2017

"Are you sure of this?" Brigadier General Eugene Hammond asked, after reading the report for a second time.

He was the commanding officer of the Guardian Command formed around the six mystical battlesuits legend had it would return to free the galaxy from the rule of the evil Horde Prime. Hammond had been nearing retirement when the Horde first came to Earth two years before. The Horde attack was halted before they had the Earth at its mercy; his people later discovered that a higher priority tasking pulled the Horde fleet away.

After the alien fleet left, another ship had been discovered floating in space on the dark side of Earth's moon. The technology and information in the ship contributed immensely to the construction of an outpost on the moon, expansion of the Area 51 base at Groom Lake, and the heralded the arrival of a very special passenger.

That passenger currently sat in on the meeting in the research base's conference room. A tall, striking woman with blue eyes, the physical beauty of a goddess and dressed like some humanoid bird, she was known on her planet as The Sorceress; guardian of Castle Grayskull. Her coming to be on Earth was a much a mystery to the Earth people as it was to her since, by the nature of her post, she could not leave said castle in human form without the aid of a magical device; it was one more riddle to solve among a great many.

The author of the report was Lieutenant Commander Emilio Carter, Chief Medical Officer of the starship _Eternia_. The very same starship found behind the moon.

Carter nodded. I've checked the results three times. All were that same. I can't explain it."

What they were discussing was the medical examination of Adrian Cobretti, operator of the Guardian battlesuit called War Wing. Adrian had been complaining of eye problems after the conclusion of the brief civil war the warrior women had fought. The six Guardians had been instrumental in giving the Queen Mother a chance to sort out her government. After literally fighting an assassin drone hand-to-hand, and getting banged up in the process, Adrian had had to be hospitalized for several days. That's when the problems surfaced.

Hammond returned his attention to the report. Adrian wore corrective contact lenses, had had his tonsils removed at an early age, and suffered an appendicitis bout six years previous resulting in the appendix being removed. After an extensive examination by Doctor Carter, the results showed that he had near perfect vision, and the tonsils and appendix had mysteriously regenerated. Tonsils growing back was not an uncommon occurrence, though rare.

"This isn't something the battlesuit accomplished?" Hammond was referring to the Falcon suit, operated by the Sorceress, keeping its operator alive when the Sorceress was afflicted with a degenerative nerve disease that was inflamed every time she used her magical powers. The other suits had been tweaking the physical attributes of their operators for the past several months, but nothing on the scale of what was in the report.

Doctor Carter blew out a breath. "I would have to say no. Even what Falcon did for the Sorceress doesn't compare to this." He shook his head. "I don't have an explanation for this."

The Sorceress leaned forward, resting her arms on the table, tapping her fingertips together. "I may have an explanation, though the timing is…odd." Despite her apparent youth, looking no older than a woman in her mid-thirties, the Sorceress' eyes revealed a wisdom beyond her years. She was intelligent and motherly, and had become the moral center for the six-person Guardian team.

The Sorceress reminded them of when she took Adrian away from the battlestar _Logoss_ , which had been limping its way home after an engagement with a Horde battleship, through a time/space portal to Castle Grayskull. Adrian had been gravely injured during a battle with Horde forces on an unclaimed world laying in an unofficial neutral zone between the Horde Empire and Val-kyrie space. "The only way I could think to heal Adrian was to take him to the castle and send him into the Pool of Power."

"That's the same pool that gave you your magical abilities and allowed you to change your appearance for that mission to the penal planet, right?" Emilio asked.

Sorceress nodded. "Adrian was so weak I had to hold him up, and since I needed to resume my station as the castle's guardian, it worked out. Most likely, it is the pool that has caused this, though I find it odd that these particular changes took so long."

Hammond asked, "Could War Wing have slowed the changes down until the crisis in the Val-kyrie government was resolved?"

"Yes, War Wing could have done it. It seems we are constantly finding out some new ability the AIs have developed." Sorceress gazed at the center of the table without really seeing it. Her thoughts had turned inward reflecting on the amazing abilities the artificial intelligences of the six suits has so far exhibited. When she had been afflicted with a degenerative nerve disease that accelerated with each use of her magic, Falcon had done her best to keep the Sorceress going until a cure was found. Ironically, the cure ended up with the Sorceress 'dying' and being resurrected by the power of Castle Grayskull.

Hammond turned to the doctor. "Have the other Guardians shown some kind of physical improvement not attributable to diet and exercise?"

"Some, but nothing on the order of this or what Falcon did for the Sorceress," Doctor Carter answered.

Hammond decided to leave it at that. After the past couple of weeks, this was a minor crisis at best. He had to finish compiling a report and get back to Earth to report to President Alexander in person. The president hadn't been too happy to learn that his commanding officer of Guardian Command had gone off world without notifying him, but considering the circumstances, and the resulting strengthening of ties with the warrior women, President Alexander was willing to overlook the incident. This time.

Queen Mother Silvara made available a long range scout ship to take him back to Earth when he was ready. Captain Majourny would be taking the _Eternia_ back in the next week, or so. Now that the Val-kyrie civil war had been resolved, her crew and Colonel Markson's four platoons were making up for lost time by engaging in cultural exchanges, training side-by-side with the Val-kyrie warriors.

They were also working on keeping up the illusion of Cobretti and the Sorceress posing as bounty hunters. The original Cobra and his companion had been caught and quietly eliminated. This allowed Cobretti and the Sorceress to take their place and infiltrate the Horde penal planet called Hel. With Colonel Markson's select group of volunteers disguised as the black armored mark two robot troopers, they liberated He-man, She-ra and anyone else they could from that hellish world. Amazingly, the mission was accomplished without any fatalities, though the escape back into Val-kyrie space was another matter.

Adrian and the Sorceress ran a diversion to allow the battlestar _Logoss_ to evade the Horde fleets closing in on them. Commander Fontaine ended up returning to a planet in unclaimed space between the empires in order to rescue the _Ladyhawke._ During the battle, Falcon had been badly damaged, and Adrian Cobretti had suffered what should have been mortal injuries. He would have died but for War Wing using his powers to keep his operator alive until the med techs on the _Logoss_ could go to work on him.

A lot had happened since then with the civil war, but now that it was behind them and Queen Mother Silvara still in power, Hammond and his people could relax and engage in strengthening ties with their new allies. Allies that had allowed the mission to the penal planet to become possible in the first place.

The meeting broke up with the general returning to his temporary office to finish his rather lengthy report. Doctor Carter would continue his examination of Val-kyrie medical advances – those they were willing to reveal – while the Sorceress continued to make adjustments for Falcon's power armor combat form.

While it had not been in the original design when the battlesuits had been created a thousand years ago, the technology in their build gave the evolved AIs abilities no one back then could have dreamed of. Their full size – called battle form - was around four meters, or twelve feet, in height. Too big to fit into the armored personnel carriers Guardian Command used. War Wing pulled the memory on Iron Man from Adrian's mind and, after a debate amongst themselves, the six AIs decided on that idea as the best for to adopt. The smaller version was dubbed combat mode with their battle mode capabilities scaled down.

Upgrades to their systems and armor had been completed just as the civil war was kicking off. Now that it was resolved, the suit operators were making more personal adjustments that couldn't have been done during the crisis.

The Sorceress didn't like the helmet of Falcon's combat form with its wing outlines on the sides. It was supposed to have a vague resemblance to the falcon head dress of her costume as the Guardian of Castle Grayskull. The blue beak and red brace was shaped more like her head dress, and the wings were now flaring out from the sides. The effect now looked more like the ceremonial Vak-kyrie helms. As soon as Sonya Boradni, operator of Hawk, saw what the Sorceress was doing, she wanted a similar effect for Hawk's helmet done in a resemblance of the Earth bird.

While the Sorceress was willing to assist Sonya in her desire, Sonya had to be the one to make the alterations. The Eternian woman had to use all of her motherly patience in order to get Sonya to open up her perceptions, think outside the box, as it were, in order to alter the battlesuit's physical form. It took hours, but the end result was dramatic. Not just in the alteration to Hawk's combat form, but in the opening of Sonya's mind. She began to understand how Adrian and the Sorceress where able to do the things they were doing in conjunction with their respective suit AIs.

Pleased that she had done her good deed for the day, the Sorceress sought out Adrian to see how he was adjusting to his recent health changes. He wasn't in the infirmary on the research side of the base. Nor was he at the main hospital on the training side. An orderly confirmed that Adrian had gotten tired of seeing medical facilities from the patient's point of view, and with no cause for him to be under observation, he had been allowed out on his own recognizance.

Sorceress searched all the likely places she figured he could be found, but came up empty every time. War Wing wasn't much help, though the AI clearly knew where his operator could be found. Blowing out a breath in frustration, she wondered the research section's corridors aimlessly. She eventually found her way into a section of the vast underground installation where the holographic chambers were located. These were smaller than the main floor chamber near Commander Harana's office, but could provide nearly any conceivable training environment needed. It was in this section that the Sorceress finally found Adrian.

Sorceress felt a familiar presence in the area and followed it to a nondescript door in a corridor lined with them. She stopped before one a little over half down the line on the left, hand hovering over the control panel on the right side. She frowned at her hesitation. While Sorceress knew the how of Adrian's health changes the why was still something of a mystery. It went beyond simply being immersed in the Pool of Power. There was a growing connection between them that she could not account for over and above the recent experiences during and since the mission to the Horde penal planet.

Frustrated by an unusual lack of knowledge, Sorceress punched the control to open the door. The barrier slide aside, Sorceress stepped inside – and stopped dead in her tracks. She stared dumbfounded at the sight before her as the hatch closed behind her.

Although the chamber's physical dimensions were something around forty feet square, Sorceress had seemingly stepped from the Pretoria research base onto the wide field on the unclaimed planet in the buffer zone between the regions controlled by the Val-kyrie and Horde Prime. The same field where she and Adrian had fought off a powerful Horde army until help arrived to extract them.

The battle was in full force as War Wing and Falcon unleashed their full might against the robot forces of Horde Prime. It was a little unnerving for the Sorceress to see herself in battle from the perspective of the third person. The analytical side of her mind took notes of Falcon's movements to review later. She never thought to go back and look at the recordings of the battle to objectively evaluate her performance with that of the battlesuit. The holorecord was an amazing way to break down a complex battle such as the one she and Adrian fought to evaluate the good and the bad points.

Sorceress stood on the ridge where the river valley met the plains. The river wound its way across the plains to empty into a large lake. Another river on the far side of it flowed away to the south. Although she could not see it, the _Ladyhawke_ rested on the eastern shore of the lake where it had crashed.

Sorceress walked across the ridge to stand beside Adrian Cobretti. He didn't acknowledge her presence at first. His brown eyes watched the action below, shifting about following the action. Their attention was drawn to the explosion of the six-legged walking machine that the Horde commander was riding in. The massive cannon on top launched high into the air, flipped over and came down over fifty meters away with a muted thump. The warped barrel pointed back to the wrecked walker.

"Freeze program," Adrian commander the computer. The action froze as he turned to face the Sorceress. "We can fight small battles all the live long day, but that out there is the end game."

Sorceress experience a sudden tightening in her gut. There was a tone to Adrian's voice she had not heard before. He sounded tired. Not a physical depletion, but more of a mental one. And that worried her.

"Sooner or later, we are going to become a major threat to the Horde. When they come for us it will be with everything they have. How were you planning to fight that?"

"Together, as we always have."

"We'll lose."

"Then I hope we will do that together, too," Sorceress answered. She paused a moment to compose herself, then said, "I haven't seen you like this, Adrian. It worries me. You have never been this conflicted even after our first battle after claiming the Guardians."

Adrian turned away. "Maybe that's because I didn't stop and think, really think, about what we are doing."

The queasy feeling in the Sorceress' gut intensified. "You knew there was no turning back once you accepted War Wing."

Adrian sighed. "Who am I to decide the fate of a galaxy? Who are we? It's arrogant presumption to think that we are the cure to the Horde sickness."

"You feel like the weight of the universe rests solely on your shoulders and you don't know what to do about it."

"You don't understand."

Sorceress arched an eyebrow. "Don't I?" she asked, moving to stand in front of him. "I left my village when unknown invaders arrived. At the time I had no idea it was a Horde scout team, but I left to find help to fight them. I nearly died crossing the Sands of Time in search of some power to help me. I eventually found it in Castle Grayskull. After the castle accepted me, I returned to my village a different woman. No one recognized me as I used to be, but for what I had become. I had to power to defeat the invaders, which I did quite easily. However, the awesome power given my by the castle also carried with it an awesome responsibility to use it wisely.

"It was not easy to watch from the castle as the galaxy continued. As life continued. Watching many travesties take place on many worlds, knowing I could do something about it, but I couldn't because that was not the purpose of the Guardian of Castle Grayskull. I was content to watch over the secrets of the castle knowing that the universe unfolds as it was meant to despite the unfairness of it at times.

"Then events unfolded that brought me among you. New friends. A new mission. The freedom to act instead of only watching and assisted where allowed."

Sorceress shook her head. "No. I have no idea what it's like to have the weight of worlds pressing down on me with no way to do anything about it."

Adrian realized his mistake immediately. He had forgotten who he was talking to and that she might have her own demons stalking her. "Well, at least you're nice about it when you chastise someone."

Sorceress smiled, that warm motherly smile she did so well. "Just doing my part to remind you that you are not the first one to have this conflict." She stepped forward and placed her hands on Adrian's shoulders. "And, most importantly, you are not alone in this."

Adrian's mood appeared to lighten a bit, or so she sensed. Not giving him time to dwell on it, Sorceress commanded the computer to file the program and clear it. The battlefield shimmered and disappeared, leaving the black walls and orange grid lines of the holochamber behind.

Sorceress slipped her right arm around Adrian's left and guided him toward the exit. "I have an idea that will lift your spirit. I want you to shoot me."

Adrian dug his heels in at the door. "Now wait a minute!" he protested.

"Relax. I have some tests I want to conduct using a new system Falcon and I came up with, but I need to be shot at."

"You couldn't find someone else to shoot at you?"

"Yes, but Jake might enjoy it too much. You know how he gets especially in close quarters."

Adrian admitted that she had a point. Jake's favorite game was close-quarters combat. He'd taught all of them a few things about it. "I can think of a few better things to do than shoot at you."

"I'm sure. Why don't we start with a few systems tests and see where that leads?"

Arrows zinged through the air smacking into a foam target thirty meter away from the shooter. Unlike the other targets on the range, this one had a scattershot pattern as if they had been launched from the barrel of a shotgun. All the other targets on the range had tight groupings within the bull's eye and the inner two rings. One last arrow struck the target high and outside the outer ring before the shooter called it quits.

The weather was sunny and warm with a negligible wind, so Corporal Anton Frost could not blame it on his poor marksmanship. If he were using his .50 caliber sniper rifle at a distance of eighteen hundred yards, he would have pegged a nice tight group his instructors would be proud of. His ebony features screwed up in a grimace as he ran a hand through his high and tight haircut. "Not a very good performance for a sniper," he sighed.

The woman standing next to him hid a smile when he looked her way. She didn't look it because Val-kyrie had long lives – while few warriors actually lived to old age – but she was actually close to Frost's age. A mane of brown hair fell to her shoulders while blue eyes took in every movement the corporal made.

Other warriors on the range pointedly ignored the pair not out of rudeness, but because as the biological daughter of the Queen Mother, Anyssa preferred to earn respect for her own abilities rather than who she was related to.

"How long have you been firing a bow?" she inquired lightly.

"How long have we been out here?"

"Exactly. I have been practicing with a bow since I was eight years old. Were you good with a rifle from the very first time you fired one"

Anton frowned. "No... I had to practice a lot. I liked to shoot all sorts of guns. My father and I used to take me to the local range every chance he got." A slight smile creased his lips at the memory.

Anyssa stepped close and had him raise the training bow, a practice version of the combat model Anyssa used. The combat model had the capability of compacting itself into a boxy shape for ease of carrying until needed. The weapon resembled compound bows used on Earth and functioned in much the same way, down to adjusting the amount of draw length and draw weight. This one was set to the standard mid-range poundage. The pair stood close together as the warrior woman gave Frost pointers on stance, aim, mindset and anything else she could think of to help him master the weapon.

There were so focused that they scarcely noticed that shooting had stopped up and down the range. Other shooters were walking out to retrieve their arrows and assess accuracy. Anyssa and Frost promptly separated, embarrassed.

"I better…um…go get my arrows," Frost stammered. He set the bow on the stand at his right side, which also held a quiver stuffed with arrows, and strode out to retrieve the ones he'd shot.

Fifty feet down the line, Dhalon, a bipedal feline native to the Quaedian race on Eternia, waited for Sera to return from retrieving her arrows. Sera was the eldest of the Queen Mother's daughters and next in line to inherit the throne of the warrior women. The middle daughter, Kiiri, had been killed on a recon mission to Eternia some months back, leading to Anyssa and Dhalon eventually joining General Hammond's command when the Guardian Force went to Eternia in search of information about the fate of He-man and the masters.

"Is the moment over?" Sera asked, tucking the arrows into the quiver stand and picking up the bow for another round.

"Yes," Dhalon rumbled. "For a race who speaks their mind when they find someone attractive, your sister sure is shy about it. Or maybe that's part of her plan."

Sera looked down at her four-foot tall companion. "Don't you go teasing her about this," she scolded. "Anyssa doesn't make friends easily." Much of that was due to her lineage. Even amoung the Val-kyrie, there were those who would exploit being friends with relations of the Queen Mother. The rest was Anyssa's awkwardness around males. From what Sera observed, the corporal was just as awkward around certain females. Yet another pair who needed to get themselves sorted out, she thought, nocking arrow, aiming, and letting fly, all within seconds. Unsurprisingly, she was thinking of Adrian Cobretti and the Sorceress of Grayskull. Sera's opinion matched that of the philosophy of her people. If you found someone attractive, then say so. Let the rest sort itself out. Waiting too long was not in her people's nature. Certainly not with the motto 'Live fast, fight hard and go out in a blaze of glory.'

Sera sighed and launched another arrow. It was none of her business despite the desire to nudge either pair along. Her only wish was for Anyssa to be happy, and at the moment, she appeared to be. Fate had a tendency to show up and throw a few curve balls when it was least expected. And Sera feared that one of the Fates was winding up at this very moment.

9


	4. Ch 2

Two

Live-fire training base

Planet Val-kyre

6 August 2017

Five days of working around the clock to modify the starship _Eternia_ 's compliment of four dropships finally paid off. The original version of the powerful craft had utilized a boarding ramp for an armored personnel carrier (APC). The bay had been modified to accommodate an assault vehicle using a triangular wheel hub design for crossing most types of terrain, rocket pods on the top, and internal missile bays. In addition, the vehicle could transport half a platoon into battle with full gear. To accommodate it, the ramp was replaced with layered doors that would slide down from the sides and fold up underneath. Mechanical grapplers would swing down from within the bay, latch in to the wheel hubs and lift the carrier up into the bay. All those alterations had to be reversed so that the new gift from the Queen Mother could be properly deployed.

That gift was four of the new Shrike assault APC. Capable of comfortably transporting an entire platoon of twenty-eight soldiers plus any ordinance and supplies required for the mission, the Shrike was the latest in a long line of war machines. It came equipped with all manner of surveillance gear, remotely operated planes, a pair of Gatling guns mounted on top in a remotely operated turret, rocket launchers with internal magazines, solid rubber tires and a suspension system offering a nearly smooth ride over rough terrain. Best of all, the machine fit comfortably in the massive dropship's bay without any modifications to the airframe or bay.

Colonel Markson and the four platoons under his command couldn't stop drooling over the machines. They familiarized themselves with the operation of the vehicles, running them through their paces while developing the operating procedures to use the Shrike to it the fullest extent of its capabilities.

Everyone was impressed with the ruggedness of the Shrike. Stories were told of Horde forces repeatedly blasting lone machines in a hail of plasma blaster fire. One particular tale involved an assault carrier getting stuck behind enemy lines. Alone and separated from the main assault force, the crew set course back toward their lines, and headed out. The comm array had been damaged so they couldn't call for help. It wasn't long before a Horde scout plane found the carrier and vectored in the ground forces. The Shrike's armor shrugged off each assault as the crew hunkered down and ran for home. The twin Gatling cannons had been reduced to firing only in the forward position because the initial Horde strike damaged the turret traverse mechanism.

Several attackers made the mistake of overshooting the fleeing Shrike and drifted into its forward firing arc. The Val-kyrie made each and every Horde vehicle pay dearly for their mistakes.

After nearly thirty harrowing minutes of running at top speed, friendly forces got word of their lone sisters fighting for survival and to the rescue in force.

The Horde pursuit force broke contact at that point and ran for home.

Once safely back at base, the vehicle commander tried to tally how many hits the Shrike had taken. She quickly gave up because the plasma bolts shot at the carrier had so thoroughly melted the armor plate that it impossible even to guess at how many hits the machine had weathered without a breach.

For five days, the mixed crews from the starship _Eternia_ and Commander Harana's test base techs prepared the Earth dropships and Shrike carriers for the ultimate test; a combat drop of all four platoons from the _Eternia_ and a ground assault on a base built solely for the purpose of perfecting ground combat seek-locate-destroy missions.

Just before dawn, the starship _Eternia_ taxied to the end of the Pretoria training and research base's longest runway in preparation for takeoff. Permission was granted, and Ace throttled up the sublight engines. The starship roared down the runway achieving takeoff speed at just over one-third its length, Lieutenant McCloud lifting the ship just enough to get the landing struts retracted. At the end of the runway, Ace throttled up to full power, pointed the nose for the stars and blasted off in a near vertical climb. Trailing cones of red-orange fire and smoke trails, the starship easily reached the upper atmosphere where the engines switched over to vacuum operation. Blue-white fire erupted from the three nozzles giving the starship the added thrust needed to make orbit and beyond.

"Ensign Comorov, plot a standard orbit over the northern hemisphere," Captain Majourny ordered. She was pleased with the operation of her ship and crew; for once, everything was functioning perfectly. There had been constant gremlins ever since the ship had been completely rebuilt after arriving in Earth's solar system. The Val-kyrie techs really knew how to chase down problems and fix them.

"Plotted and ready," the young navigator announced.

Jo-jo touched a control on the left-hand control panel to open the standby channel to orbital control. "Orbital control, this is the _Eternia_ requesting permission to assume standard orbit."

The officer on duty responded immediately. "Permission granted. A weather system is moving in on the target area, but conditions are within safety margins. Assume standard orbit and begin mission at your digression. Good hunting. Orbital control out."

" _Eternia_ acknowledges. Out." Jo-jo swung around to her left.

Colonel Markson had come onto the bridge during the talk with orbital control. "All set?"

"Whenever you're ready. We're just your taxi service his time." The woman sounded disappointed.

"Don't worry," the colonel said with a grin. "I'm sure you'll get to kill something on the next mission."

"Unless something goes terribly wrong and I end up having to break in a new commander," Jo-jo replied. "If you do screw up, get it all on film to review later. The movie rights along would be worth a fortune."

The colonel's face fell. "That's cold, lady. At least we'll be having fun while you are stuck up here circling the wagons. Give it a couple orbits then set off the alert." He left the bridge without another word.

"If he wasn't so good at his job I could really get to dislike him," Jo-jo muttered.

Lieutenant Harvey Denton spoke up from the tactical station behind to the right of the command chair. "Sounds like love to me."

Jo-jo swung around on him. "I hear there's an opening in Delta Platoon. You volunteering to fill the void?" The lieutenant hastily shook his head. "All right, then. Let's circle the wagons and enjoy the show."

 _Eternia_ made three orbits.

All the platoons had been settling in and starting to relax a bit when it looked like the balloon wasn't going up right away. Unsurprisingly, that's when the klaxon went off. People scrambled from the barracks set on the port and starboard sides of the ship. The ready rooms and galley emptied in seconds. Everyone gathered at the front of the drop bay.

Colonel Markson waited for everyone to get into place before signaling for silence. "The balloon has just gone up. Two hours ago a military installation on the northern continent went silent. A team was sent in to investigate and all contact was lost shortly after they arrived. Our mission is go down to the planet, find out what happened and take whatever actions are deemed necessary." And possible, he added silently. "Because of the size of the base we will be deploying all four platoons."

"Sir," a private near the front raised his hand.

"What is it, private?"

"Is this going to be a standup fight or a bug hunt?"

Markson grinned evilly. "I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count."

"It's a bug hunt," Corporal Frost spoke up from behind the kid. "Size and nature of the enemy?"

"Unknown on both accounts. All transmissions from the base were cut off abruptly so we have no idea what to expect." The colonel continued by issuing the deployment orders and how they would approach the base. Since the weapons and dropships had already been prepped before taking off from the planet, he gave the platoons two hours to double check the weapons and vehicles before the drop. There were a few groans at that, but the platoon sergeants quickly clamped down on the discord.

With no other questions, Colonel Markson dismissed his command to get to work.

At T-minus thirty minutes to drop, the platoons filed into their assigned locker rooms at the forward end of the drop bay to suit up. The usual rounds of banter ensued as the soldiers put on their armor, checking each other for loose or damaged harnesses and bragging about how they would do in the coming op.

The normal weaponry – M50 pulse rifles, M300 sniper rifles and M120 heavy assault machine guns – was replaced with the older M30 pulse rifles. The M30 was specifically designed to handle ballistic ammunition designed to bruise, not kill. As it happened, the M30 could chamber the munitions the Val-kyrie used on their train ops: It was a caseless round with an explosive tip that delivered a non-lethal electric jolt. It stung like hell, could knock a person unconscious if enough struck, but did not kill unless the unlucky soul had some sort of medical condition like a weak heart. M30 rifles were handed out as the platoon sergeants hollered for everyone to get out to the ready lines beside their assigned dropships and Shrike assault carriers.

The drop bay reverberated with the sounds of shouted commands, idling dropship engines, and booting feet slapping the metal deck. All platoons filed into the assault carriers, took up their assigned seating and strapped in for drop. The Shrike drivers backed up the newly installed ramps, which raised and locked.

Up on the bridge, Capitan Majourny watched the action in the drop bay on a monitor set in the left-hand control station. The dropship pilots retracted the quad landing struts as the thick inner bay door beneath them opened. Once the idling ships came to rest on the reinforced panels that would release them, the hydraulic arms unlocked and rose back into the ceiling. Outer doors swung open to reveal a limited, but no less breathtaking, view of the planet revolving below.

Jo-jo tried to suppress a grin as she touched a switch on the right-hand control station to activate a delayed program. "Let's see what they do with this."

The numbers continued to run down as Ace kept the _Eternia_ on course for the drop window. Ace informed the dropship pilots when they had one minute to release. Everyone tensed up at this point. While the technology had been perfected, accidents could still happen. The panels that released the ships could malfunction, lodging a craft in the bay. The _Eternia_ could be too close to the upper atmosphere where air currents could throw the dropships off course. The release sequencing could be mistimed leaving the ships too close to one another. The pilots chose not to dwell on what might go wrong and concentrated instead on having a perfect release.

At T-minus thirty seconds, the auto-release alarmed sounded.

"Auto-release sequencer failure," Ace called out. "Switch to manual release. Release on my mark."

That got the blood pumping. This was where things could really go wrong, but Ace and the other pilots had practiced this countless times. The drops went off without any more errors. Ace called out the release points perfectly via the bridge computer. As the _Eternia_ soared away in orbit, he studied the graphic on his main monitor depicting the downward course of the dropships. All four were well within the margin for error. In fact, all the craft were within only one degree when the margin allowed for a plus/minus three degrees. His best drop yet.

Seeing that everything was going according to plan, Jo-jo relinquished her seat to Lieutenant Denton. "Nice work, Ace. Thought I was finally going to get you on that one."

"Keep trying, Captain."

"Watch the ego, Lieutenant," Jo-jo said sweetly. "While computer models say error hardly ever happen in less than the thirty second mark, that doesn't mean I won't throw one in."

After the captain as gone, and Denton safely relocated to the Captain's chair, Harley said to Ace, "When are you going to learn to just take a compliment?"

Ace swiveled his chair around. "The only reason she hasn't done it is because Feral's pilots and I routinely practice that. We have a full four-ship safe release timed down to fifteen seconds. We once made it in ten, but haven't been able to repeat it."

Denton frowned. "What's so special about that?"

At Ace's encouraging look, Ensign Comorov answered. "The manual states aborting the drop if a release sequencer fail alert sounds at any time under T-minus thirty seconds."

"In short," Ace added, grinning, "the captain will not allow a drop like that unless the failure happens on a combat mission. So we content ourselves with simulator runs only."

"Then she knows all about this."

"Sir," Comorov pointed out, over his shoulder, "Keptin Majourny helped us _develop_ the procedure in the unlikely event we ever had to actually do it."

Denton sat back, too stunned to comment.

The drop went relatively smoothly. There was a weather system in the target area that made for a bumpy ride, but the dropship squadron made it through with no problem. The biggest issue was learning to fly with the increased weight of the Shrike in the drop bay. It weighed roughly thirty percent greater than the old APC, but it was still within the dropship's rated carrying capacity.

Colonel Markson divided his force up to approach the base from four sides. The drops were made about five kilometers away while Lieutenant Feril continued on to the target. The other platoons were to hold until word was given to approach their assigned sections and begin the search,

Feril could barely see through the rain-streaked windscreen as she approached the apparently dead base. She flew around the perimeter at fifty feet above the tallest building. The camera feeds to the Shrike presented a much clearer picture, but the information gathered was not much beyond the fact that the basic structures were intact, and the power was still on; as evidenced by the occasional external lights.

After three passes, Colonel Markson ordered Feril to drop them on the landing grid and called in the other platoons to begin the recon of their assigned sectors of the massive base. Feril set down long enough for the Shrike to roar out of the bay, then took off to join the other ships orbiting the base with weapons pods deployed.

The driver slowed to a halt fifty yards from the command building. The doors on the right popped out and slid apart. Troopers were deploying the instant there was enough room to get out. They fanned out by squads to cover one another and the building. Apone scanned the surroundings with electro-binoculars unmindful of the driving rain.

Nothing moved anywhere within sight. Although the lights were on in certain windows, there was no sign of life anywhere. Apone ordered First Squad to move up with Second Squad covering the advance.

The control panel for the front door was dead, but a quick bypass solved that problem. Apone led the way in while Second Squad moved up to flank the outside. Within another minute, both teams were inside the structure.

Inside was a scene of utter devastation. Overhead lights flickered here and there, structural damage decorated the walls, floor, and ceiling, forcing the soldiers to weave their way through a maze of wiring, twisted metal scrap, and dangerous pits in the floor.

Colonel Markson watched everything on a bank of monitors in the Shrike via the helmet cameras everyone wore. He didn't like what he was seeing and badly wanted to be in there with his people instead being stuck out in the Shrike. Leading from the rear was not Colonel Markson's style, but his people knew their jobs and were very good at it.

"Trackers online. Quarter in search by twos," Markson ordered.

The motion trackers were the latest design; powerful, compact and more precise than the models in use six months ago. Apone snapped his fingers for attention, then waved the people off in assigned pairs. He and Frost continued down the main corridor weaving their way around the damage from a fierce running battle.

It took over fifteen minutes to search the two levels of the complex. Nothing. No blood. No bodies. Not a soul about. The soldiers felt the weight of the oppressive atmosphere pressing down on them.

"Second squad, what's your status?" Apone requested.

The corporal running the squad reported immediately. "We just finished our sweep. Nobody home."

"Right. Sir, this place is dead. Whatever happened it looks like we missed it," Apone said to the colonel.

"All right. Secure the medical lab and operations. I'm coming in."

Frost met up with Colonel Markson at the main entrance. "Sir, First Squad in just outside the med lab. Second Squad cleared operations and Private O'Rourke is trying to activate the computer system."

"Any bodies?" Markson asked, taking point.

"No, sir. Must have been a helluva fight judging by all the damage."

"Yeah. Looks that way," Markson said, absently.

The pair joined First Squad outside the med lab. Apone had gone on to the operations center with Second Squad, so Markson took charge of searching the lab.

The main hatch was jammed partially open. The soldiers had to squeeze through one at a time, a tight fit for people in full battle armor. There was less damage here, but it was clear some fighting had been visited upon the place. Bypassing an aisle of locked cupboards due to a six-foot bank of lights dangling from a power cable, they regrouped on the far side near the left section containing rows of biobeds. Most of the soldiers walked on by after a cursory look inside, but Frost lingered for a better look. His eyes focused on a bed about seven spaces down the right side.

Frost suddenly grasped what he was looking at. He called out to the colonel several times, starting in a low voice, finally having to practically shout the colonel's name to get his attention. An angry Colonel Markson marched back to glare at the corporal. "I think we have a live one," Frost explained, stepping on the bay.

Markson's glare followed the young man. It softened considerably when his eye full upon the figure laying on the bed. Although the lighting in chamber was set for a simulated night, he recognized who they had found once he got close enough.

Princess Anyssa, daughter of the Queen Mother.

The monitor above the bed on the wall indicated low but steady readings. She appeared to be sleeping. Her armor was dirty with a scorch mark here and there. An ugly bruise marred her left cheek.

"Stay with her," Markson said to Frost. "I'll send Lieutenant Smith to check her out. Let me know the instant she wakes up. Right now, she's the only one who can tell us what the hell happened here."

"Yes, sir," Frost managed to get out around the lump in his throat.

"Status," the colonel demanded upon entering the operations center. This was one of the few places that hadn't been damaged. Odd. This would have been one of the first places taken out, if he had been planning the attack.

Catherine O'Rouke, the platoon's techie, was working diligently at the main computer console trying to coax it into giving up its secrets. So far, no success. She got the power reconnected with a few bypasses, managed to get surveillance and communications back online, but the records of the battle could not be retrieved. She suspected that those records might be on damaged portions of the core.

Apone walked up to the colonel to make his report. "This section of the complex is as secure as we can make it. There are still the sublevels to search. Right now I have guards on those access points. The other platoons are starting to report in. So far, they have found a few bodies, extensive damage, but no signs of who did this or why."

Markson nodded, head bowed in thought. He relayed orders through the Shrikes to the respective platoons to begin searching the sublevels in their quadrants. Something was odd about this whole situation, but Markson couldn't quite wrap his brain around it. Something familiar. Unable to resolve his issue with the current status of the base, Markson returned his attention to the bank of security monitors that suddenly flared to life.

It wasn't long before they spotted Delta platoon making its way into the sublevels in the southeast corner of the base. Lighting was bad there, as with everywhere else on the installation, so they had to rely on relays from the platoon's Shrike for information on what they were seeing.

With the bank of twenty displays broken up into sections monitoring the progress of the other platoons, Colonel Markson settled in for a long wait.

Captain Majourny prowled the corridors of her starship as it soared in stationary orbit over the base. After twenty minutes of checking departments, looking in on equipment trunks she rarely visited, and generally gauging how her crew was doing, Jo-jo found herself outside a particular hatch just forward of the platoon locker areas. Glancing left and right to be sure no one would see, the captain punched the control panel and slipped quickly inside.

This was the primary situation room used for coordinating operations between the deployed platoons and the starship. Under normal circumstances, that is. Today, the room was occupied by three others who briefly glanced her way before returning their attention to the monitors.

"How's it going? Anyone figure out what's going on yet?" Jo-jo asked, settling into a vacant chair.

"Not yet," Queen Mother Silvara replied. "Although that corporal my daughter has taken an interest in appears to be forming an opinion."

"And the colonel?"

"If he is wise to what he's up against, he isn't showing it," General Hammond replied.

"They'll find out soon enough," Commander Harana said. "Looks like Delta is about to get a rude welcome."

Jo-jo was feeling a little more relaxed now that the operation was underway. Sneaking the Queen Mother and the commander on board with no one being the wiser had been problematic. It required split-second timing when the crew was engrossed in prelaunch preparations, and the platoons checking over their equipment for the training mission.

"I hope she performs better than yesterday," Jo-jo commented, not voicing the name of the person in question. "I heard she is still having issues."

Silvara nodded. "She quickly worked through it courtesy of my warriors."

"You never did say how the mission ended," Hammond reminded her.

"No. I didn't." The Queen Mother absently rubbed the bruise on her left cheek.

Everyone's attention was diverted back to the monitors.

The attack had begun.

Frost paced anxiously around the med bay while Lieutenant Smith evaluated the unconscious princess. He still couldn't wrap his brain around that fact. The girl was nothing like all the fantasy tales on Earth depicted a princess should be. Frost thought Anyssa was more a warrior princess like Xena than anything Disney could have dreamed up.

He tried to stay out of the way as the lieutenant fussed over the girl. Frost concentrated on the scorch marks on Anyssa's armor. Some appeared to be burns from plasma discharges. Other were repairs painted over. He had seen similar marks before, but where he'd seen them eluded him. One thing was certain, he did not like the conclusions the indications were leading to.

L-T Smith finally straightened and issued her report. "All the indicators say she's asleep. I don't see an injuries despite the visual evidence on the armor. I'm not as familiar with this equipment as I would like, so I can't say what her mental state is."

"Thanks, L-T."

Not long after the lieutenant had left, Anyssa began to stir. Frost quickly moved to her side. The girl's eyes snapped open. Her eyes darted around for a panicky few seconds until they settled on Frost. Her left hand snapped up to grab the top of his chest plate and savagely yanked him down close. Her lips stuttered as she struggled to speak. Frost tried to calm the girl down, but she refused to listen.

"You…must…b-be…careful," Anyssa struggled to speak. It was agony for her to get each word out, but she _had_ to warn them.

"Anyssa, who did this?"

"It…was…t-t-them," Anyssa gasped.

Frost's brow furrowed. Why would she be thinking of the movie they had watched a couple nights ago? "You're saying giant ants did this?"

Anyssa collapsed back on to the bed. "NO! Not…ants…you-you…male." She stuttered when she was trying to be nice about her insults. Her female-dominated society was slowing changing their prejudicial views about males, but it didn't take much to backslide into that way of thinking. "It was _them_."

Frost listened intently as Anyssa struggled to explain. He had to lean close as her voice failed. He wished he hadn't as the picture of what they were facing became clear. A cold mass settled in the pit of his stomach, and he had fight the urge to throw up as it dawned on him what had happened here – and who was responsible.

It happened slowly. Stragglers were picked off one by one by something they could not see. Infrared imaging sensors the soldiers could flip down from inside their helmets didn't show anything. Motion trackers were more effective, but by the time the enemy struck, it was too late. Delta survivors tightened up their formation to better watch one another's backs.

It didn't help all that much.

Colonel Markson watched the monitors helplessly as Delta continued to be picked off one by one. There were glimpses of the assailant, but the images were not enough for an identification. Other reports started coming in from the Shrikes that they under attack. All of them simultaneously. Their loss severely hindered the colonel's ability to coordinate movements with the other platoons.

O'Rourke was still trying to tap into the base's com system in order to get a signal up to the _Eternia_. Apparently, there was a lot of damage to reroute around in order to get it up and running.

Delta platoon fell within ten minutes of first contact with the as yet unseen enemy. Some technical wizardry by O'Rourke got their own com channels integrated into the base system. If anyone was still alive out there, any transmissions would now be picked up.

Work on the base systems was just being completed when a garbled transmission break in over the speakers.

"Corporal… Sub… Section 13… It was…" the rest was lost in static and what sounded like groans in pain.

Markson keyed the nearest com panel as all activity quieted. "This is Colonel Markson. Repeat your transmission." He snapped his fingers at the people manning the surveillance monitors. The privates bent to the task of trying to find the person on any functioning camera.

More static and few grunts on pain. "Corporal Jones, sir. They're gone. They're all gone!" The kid sounded borderline hysterical.

"Calm down, son. Tell me where you are and who hit you." Markson's eyes were drawn to a bank of screens when a private signaled for his attention. The lighting was bad, but he could make out the form of Corporal Jones crawling away from the nearest camera. He appeared to be trying to make his way back to the nearest stairwell back out of the sub section.

"Sub level 3, section 13."

"Jesus," Apone hissed beside the colonel.

An apparition had appeared at the near end on the monitor. That placed the enemy behind the injured corporal. All they could see was a black mass moving in deeper darkness.

"Get out of there. It's right behind you! MOVE!" Markson commanded, knowing it was already too late.

In the background of the kid groans and grunts, they could hear the unmistakable sounds of something walking almost leisurely up from behind. It sounded strangely familiar somehow.

"Get it, Colonel. Don't let it escape."

"What, Jones? Don't let what escape?" Markson demanded, watching the inevitable unfold on the monitor. The black shape almost totally blocked out the crawling figure. The kid was still several yards away from the view of the next camera in line.

Moments before the surveillance system on sub level 3 shorted out from a powerful EM burst, Corporal Jones managed to obey the colonel's demand.

"There's a Guardian down here!"

18


	5. Ch 3

Three

Live-fire training base

Planet Val-kyre

6 August 2017

" _There's a Guardian down here!"_

Frost barged into the command center just as the shout followed by static came over the com. Colonel Markson pursed his lips in consternation. He saw the corporal out of the corner of his eye, and turned toward him. "Let me guess. The princess woke up, told what happened, and you came to warn us." Frost nodded. Markson shook his head. "A little late, but we still have a chance."

He issued a warning to the commanders of Beta and Charlie platoons as to what they were facing, and to take out the enemy by any means necessary. Markson scrambled Alpha to take up defensive positions around the command center while he, Apone, Frost and two others scouted the area.

Markson had a bad feeling that he knew how the Guardians were deployed, but he had to make confirmation. The shadow on the surveillance footage was slender along feminine lines, meaning the attacker was either Hawk or Falcon. Given the rather blurry shape of the staff weapon he had seen for a split second, Markson was betting on Hawk.

Private Andros was in the nearest intersection with one of the new tracking units. "Hey, corporal," he called out to Frost. "I think we got something here."

Markson and Frost hurried over to look at the display. A red dot glowed at the top center of the display. That meant that whatever was out there, it was directly in front of them. The group was a few paces from a four-way intersection of corridors. The object on the tracker was straight down the main corridor where most of the lighting was inoperative.

Naturally.

Markson ordered them to spread out and proceed cautiously. Frost and Andros took point, weapons raised, searching for targets.

"Why does it always have to be dark creepy corridors?" Frost muttered.

"You know who we're after?" Andros whispered.

Before Frost could answer, a screeching rasp of metal on metal came from somewhere ahead of them. Both soldiers froze, scarcely daring to breath. Seconds later, the rasping came again. It was almost musical, in a way. A way that made Frost's stomach drop into his feet. A sick sensation washed over him threatening to make him vomit.

Andros suddenly snapped his rifle up to his shoulder and fired off several bursts into the shadows. Colonel Markson had to repeat his order to cease fire several times until the private stopped shooting.

"Report," Markson demanded.

"I saw…s-something," the kid gestured down the corridor. "Down there."

"What?"

"Something big. Only saw a shape, but it was there! I swear it was right there."

Frost said, "Black, about six feet tall, vaguely insectoid-looking?"

Andros nodded. "And those eyes."

Markson had a sudden tightening in his gut. "Eyes?"

"Silver orbs shaped like eggs and glowing?" Frost asked, fear creeping up his spine.

Andros answered, "Yes."

Colonel Markson shuddered. "War Wing," he and Frost said in unison.

"War Wing? Seriously?" Andros hissed, voice cracking.

"Welcome to the Red Shirts, kid," Markson said, grimly.

He watched the heads up display in his helmet with mild interest. The first phase of the operation had gone according to plan. Well, almost. Claw getting blown up with the last Shrike hadn't been a part of the plan, but the end result was effective. Hawk had done just as well, but not without a price.

"Hawk, what's your status?"

There was a ten second pause before Sonya Boradni answered. "Delta has been eliminated."

"Suit status?"

"Not good. Left arm severely compromised. Left leg barely functional. Combat capabilities below fifty percent," Sonya reported.

"Head over to the southwest sector and assist Falcon. Captain Takamora will know how to fight her. Do what you can. If all else fails…" he left the order unfinished. There was no need to finish it.

"Understood," Sonya replied after a long pause.

Within the limits of the operation, all was going well. He'd had reservations about the parameters, but, then, lots of operations ended up being so constrained in order to be valid test. This was more of a test of the platoons than the Guardians.

Adrian called up Blitzkrieg and Gatling Arm. "Claw is down. Hawk is compromised. Head over to sector two and take out Beta platoon."

"Are you planning on taking on Alpha all alone?" Jake Rockwell said.

"Well, it'll be the highlight of the party," Adrian answered, absently. "Besides, the colonel will be disappointed with anyone else. Don't worry, Jake. You're reputation for recklessness is secure. Enjoy!" He closed the channel before Jake could make a suitable response.

As soon as the remaining platoons were engaged, Adrian made his presence known to Alpha. The new kid, Andros, was quick. Too quick. Jumping at shadows. A sign of inexperience. This was gonna be fun.

Captain Hohiro Takamora led his team through their assigned area; Colonel Markson had informed him as to who he might be facing. Hawk hadn't shown up yet, but if Delta managed to wound the Guardian, that gave them a chance. The question was, who was lurking in Charlie platoon's area. With the APCs down, there was no way to coordinate activity effectively. The only way for the remaining platoons to talk to one another now was by linking into the spotty base comm system. Hohiro hopped that whoever attacked the carriers had been taken out by them.

He paused when sporadic reports came in that Beta was under attack. Definitely a Guardian, but they had no idea as to an identity. After listening for a few moments, Hohiro returned to the task at hand. His people waited expectantly.

"We continue with our orders. Move out!"

They secured the first sub level in short order. Moving down to the second level, Charlie platoon spread out by teams continued the search. Hohiro had been in some creepy places in the past, but this training base took first prize. It'd make an ideal place to have a haunted house every year. Or that he was living a horror movie instead acting one out for Hollywood.

The captain shook off those gloomy thoughts and concentrated on his work. Reports came in of strange mechanical sounds coming from due south of their position. Hohiro ordered them to approach with caution, but not to engage under any circumstances.

The rest of the platoon moved to surround the intruder. Hohiro guessed the enemy was likely to Hawk. That she was making so much noise meant that Delta hurt her worse than expected. Confirmation came minutes later when they spied Hawk in combat form painfully making her way through the darkened corridors. Because of the ammunition they were using, there were no visible signs of damage, but it appeared that the left side was all but locked up.

Hohiro had his people arrayed in a cordon that left no escape for the damaged Guardian. Everything was set. All he had to do was give the order to fire. He was about to issue said order, but a sudden warning flared in the back of his brain; the sixth sense combat veterans developed. Something about this setup suddenly seemed wrong to him. The Asian fell back on the teachings of Sun Tzu to analyze the situation. He had what he wanted. An inescapable cordon to take down the enemy who was damaged and unable to offer an effective defense. It was perfect.

Too perfect.

"A diversion," Takamora whispered. There was another Guardian close by waiting to strike the moment Charlie platoon committed to taking the obvious target. The problem was, he _had_ to take the bait. Even damaged, a Guardian was extremely dangerous. He did a quick reorganization of the attack, pulling back several squads to counter the counterattack. "All squads set?"

All squads called in that they were ready.

Takamora gave the order.

Hawk never had a chance. But, then, she knew that going in when she and the Sorceress planned their trap. Hohiro would figure out it was a trap just before he committed to taking Hawk down. Sorceress knew it, and that he would pull back several squads in reserve. That's why they chose sub level two, because of the claustrophobic quarters provided by tunnels, rather than the more open third sub level for the strike.

Even as Hawk fell under the withering fire from over fifteen assault rifles, Falcon made her move.

Blue globes soared from out of nowhere to impact with several members from each of Takamora's reserve squads. Those people reacted quickly, their attacker was already on the move.

"Shit! It's Falcon!" someone snarled.

A frantic sixty seconds passed before a lull in the battle fell. Several squads had also fallen to Falcon's energy globes. The survivors regrouped and pulled back to a more defensible area. Unfortunately, Falcon was waiting for them.

"Sorceress," Hohiro greeted his opponent.

"Hohiro," Sorceress answered. She was protected behind a shield dome, falcon staff loosely grasped in her right hand, the faceplate of her new helmet open.

"I like the new helmets you designed. Gives the combat modes more character."

"Thank you. I was inspired by the old Val-kyrie battle armor in their museum." Sorceress changed the subject. "You seem a bit on edge."

"Well, it's been a long day. I don't suppose it would do any good to ask you to stand down?" the Asian asked.

Sorceress cracked a partial smile. "Now where would be the fun in that?"

Hohiro sighed. "Adrian's been rubbing off on you."

"Don't forget your hand in this. Your martial arts training came in handy on the last two missions."

Hohiro nodded. "Let's dance!"

The faceplate snapped into place as the feathers on the sides of her helmet fanned back up. Automatic weapons opened up from all sides, but none of the rounds got through. The shield flared with a kaleidoscope of color. Ripples swarmed all over the surface from the physical impacts like throwing stones into a pond.

Hohiro pulled his squad back as Falcon lashed out with blasts from the falcon staff and blue globes thrown from her left hand. They didn't have the firepower to drain the shield before everyone in the platoon was neutralized. Thinking fast, he pulled a combat knife from the sheath on the left side of his vest, flipped it to grasp the weapon by the blade, lined up the throw, and let it fly.

Travelling at a slower rate than the bullets, the tumbling knife easily penetrated the energy shield and slammed into the base of falcon cap on the staff. The impact ripped the staff out of Falcon's gauntlet and skidding away across the floor.

Flexing her hand more from the surprise attack than any real damage done, Sorceress commented, "You remembered. I wondered how long that would take." The shield dropped away as she prepared for the end game, pulling stun batons from sheaths on the thigh armor. The tips crackled with electricity. "Time to get personal."

"You're enjoying this," the captain stated, surprised by what he was seeing.

Chuckling, Sorceress replied, "You have no idea!"

Reports came in to Colonel Markson of the assault on Beta platoon. It appeared that Blitz and Gatling Arm were making an all-out attack and things were not going well for either side. The runner returned from scouting the last APC to go silent and found Claw along with the APC driver. He wasn't sure what happened, but both were down for the count.

So the tally stood at one platoon wiped out. Guardians Claw and Hawk confirmed neutralized. Blitz and Gatling Arm engaged with Beta platoon. Charlie platoon currently engaged with Guardian Falcon. That left Alpha Platoon to deal with Guardian War Wing.

 _I'd rather go back to that penal planet_ , Markson thought grimly. He spread his command out to try to contain Adrian, but he knew it was pointless. His plan was not to be contained. It was to wipe out the colonel and his command or go down trying.

"Colonel, Beta reporting in, sir," a very young voice announced over the tac net.

Markson keyed his headset. "Markson. Go."

"Private Jefferies, sir. The Guardians have been neutralized. They self-destructed somehow."

"Elaborate, Jefferies. What happened?"

"We had them surrounded. Took out Gatling Arm first as he was taking out several squads. We were repositioning to take down Claw when he set off some kind of energy device. A wave radiated out from him destroying himself and anyone within twenty yards. I was the furthest out so I was late getting back into position-"

"Don't blame yourself, kid. Nothing you could have done. Captain Takamora just reported in," Markson said, reading a brief note a runner handed him. "Guardian Falcon has been neutralized. He has a few survivors heading our way. Link up with him and get back here. Double-time."

"Yes, sir," Jefferies acknowledged.

"All right, people. We're the last ones standing. We take out War Wing here and now. By any means necessary. Let's move out!"

Captain Majourny returned to the observation room after making a tour of the ship and making sure that Ace was ready to take them down to the base when ordered. "How are things going?"

"Well, Hawk went down without taking anyone else out," General Hammond replied. "Beta got their revenge on Gatling Arm. He only managed to take out one squad before they got him. Blitz used the self-destruct to take out everyone else."

Since they were monitoring the improvised communications net Private O'Rourke set up, they heard Private Jefferies report in.

"It appears everything is right on schedule," the Queen Mother commented.

Commander Harana raised an eyebrow. "Remind you of anything?"

Silvara absently rubbed the bruise on her left cheek. "No."

Jo-jo couldn't resist. "What happened?"

"I…got overconfident," Silvara confessed.

General Hammond turned away from the bank of monitors. "Who hit you?"

The Queen Mother resolutely stared at the monitors refusing to answer.

"Tell them or I will," Harana warned. Silvara glared at her warningly. "It's going to come out sooner or later."

Silvara sighed heavily. "You are aware that we Val-kyrie prefer one-on-one engagements? Well, I thought I could take on War Wing and win."

Harana snickered. When Silvara glared again, she hastened to explain. "I was the last one standing and decided that coming out on top was not an option. With everyone else neutralized, the only option left was mutual destruction."

"I'll bet that was difficult for someone used to always winning her matches," Jo-jo commented. "Anyssa told me," she added at Harana's confused look.

"Well, Falcon is down," Hammond said. "For someone as gentle and even-tempered as the Sorceress, she really seemed to enjoy herself."

Jo-jo frowned. "I'd like to believe she's just practicing her roleplaying skills for that bounty hunter alter ego you won't let Adrian put down for good-"

When she didn't finish her thought, Harana said, "But you don't." Jo-jo shook her head.

"It's always the quiet ones," Hammond said. "Looks like the colonel is making his final push."

Colonel Markson tried to pen War Wing in, but all he accomplished was losing two squads of people. Frustrated, he regrouped and tried a different tactic that seemed very out of character to those who didn't know him very well. Instead of trying to find the enemy, he issued taunts in an effort to drawn him out.

"This is your strategy?" Apone growled. "Taunting him is like poking a stick at a hornets nest. Sooner or later you get zapped."

"It's what he wants. And so do I. We're not getting out of this alive, so might as well go down swinging," Markson beamed with a grin.

Hefting his weapon, Apone said as dead serious as he ever got, "Just be glad this is an exercise and not for real. What he can do to people with those creature forms would not be pretty."

"Trust me. I wouldn't want to fight the Guardians for real," Markson assured Apone. _And certainly not Adrian_ , he added to himself.

Frost wondered how long Adrian was going to make them wait. Everybody was jumping at shadows because of his ability to strike from the shadows. Frost had never really been afraid of what his friend could do because they were on the same side. Now that they were on opposite sides – even if it was only a training op – Frost was terrified. He was beginning to understand why Adrian had such misgivings about his morphing abilities. It was because this was only an exercise that the colonel felt confident in taunting him. Even so, the guy had a way of getting a point across.

"My, but we're getting a little big for your britches, aren't we?" Adrian said, his voice amplified by the suit. He stepped out into the dimly lit corridor only ten meters in front of the colonel.

Soldiers scrambled out of the way and took up station at what they thought might be a safe distance away, mindful of the weapons pods currently retracted behind Adrian's shoulders.

"I'm tired of the game," Markson growled. He lunged straight at the Guardian, igniting a beam saber as be closed on target.

Adrian automatically snatched the saber stored in the right thigh, ignited it, and snapped the blood red blade up to block the colonel's glowing green blade. The pair separated and traded a flurry of blows. Since Adrian sometimes lived his life like he was filming a comedy, he couldn't resist calling out the parries and thrusts. The pair locked up again, their faces inches from the crossed blades.

Popping open his faceplate, Adrian said, admiringly, "You've been practicing."

Markson replied with a wink, "I got a few pointers."

Adrian could have easily overpowered the colonel using the mechanical strength of the battlesuit, but it wouldn't have been much fun. Sensing danger to his left, he snapped out the saber from the left thigh and barely brought it up in time to block an amber blade. All without looking, though he knew who had the audacity to strike at him.

"Ballsy," Adrian said approvingly to Corporal Frost. "Stupid, but ballsy."

"Let's get this over quick," Frost declared.

"Okay!" Adrian shoved the colonel away, snapped up his right foot and gave him a short blast from the boot thrusters.

Surprisingly, Frost held his own over the vicious assault from two red sabers. A few swipes did get through, however, leaving his left leg numb and right arm paralyzed at the shoulder. The saber fell from Frost's useless right hand. The activation stud released, extinguishing the blade. The handle clattered to the deck and rolled away.

Adrian deactivated one saber and returning it to the left thigh storage slot. "If it's any consolation, this will hurt you a lot less than it will me."

"Man, just do it already." An incredible pain lanced through his body as the saber slammed into Frost just below the sternum.

Adrian gently lowered the corporal to the deck. He didn't have time to ponder what he had just done because automatic rifle fire opened up all around him. The faceplate snapped closed and he stumbled away to cover behind a dead piece of equipment. The AI displayed a rough damage assessment. Both weapons pods had taken sufficient hits to disable them.

"In the _back_?" Adrian snarled angrily. "Dick move, colonel."

Adrian looped around through the maze of corridors to take the next squad from behind. A wire diagram on the heads up display showed exactly where he was in relation to the enemy. The shoulder pods were disabled, but he still had the sabers, twin blaster cannon on the right arm and energy projector on the left to work with.

The targets retreated at War Wing's approach. The blasted away bravely, but ultimately futilely. The Guardian started to grow confident that maybe someone might survive after all. Captain Takamora and whomever was left from Beta and Charlie platoons arrived to get in on the kill.

Adrian realized too late that squads were sacrificing themselves to take him out. The colonel had used Adrian's aggressiveness against him. Five minutes after starting his latest rampage, War Wing entered the main junction twenty yards from operations. The remaining people swarmed into position to fire from all sides, and yet, didn't. They were waiting for the colonel's orders.

Markson stepped into the open. "Last chance to end this."

"So true," Adrian agreed, raising his right hand. It clutched a simple cylinder with a plunger under the thumb.

Shock slowly spread over the colonel's features as it downed on him that Adrian had played into his hands with an end game of his own.

"FIRE!" he screamed, snapping up his rifle and squeezing the trigger.

Hundreds of rounds blasted through the intersection. Some hit War Wing. Some hit the corridor walls. Some even hit other soldiers. Despite the shear amount of firepower unleashed in the seconds it took for the rifles to empty, Adrian still managed to press the plunger.

A powerful energy wave blasted out in all directs with War Wing at the center. Guardian and surviving soldiers all collapsed where they stood.

General Hammond, Captain Majourny, and the two Val-kyrie sat in stunned silence after witnessing War Wing's final stand.

"That was dramatic," Harana said. "Not at all like yesterday. Well, not entirely."

Jo-jo thumbed the comm panel. "Okay, Ace. On the next orbit take us down."

Ace replied a moment later, "Yes, ma'am. It's over all ready?"

"Just get us down," Jo-jo said, sternly. "You can worry about the betting pool later." She thumbed off the comm before the pilot could reply.

General Hammond looked bemused. "Lost another one?"

"How did you do? If you don't mind my asking, sir?"

Hammond laughed. "I learned my lesson long about betting on games. I just spectate and participate on occasion."

Harana smiled. "Tomorrow's debriefing is going to be very interesting. Adrian's not going to soon forget the colonel shooting him in the back."

Yes, tomorrow was going to be very interesting. Jo-jo was tempted to bet on whether or not it stay civilized much less professional, but she decided it was best to quit while slightly behind.

25


	6. Ch 4

Four

Pretoria Research and Training Base

Planet Val-kyre

7 August 2017

The principle actors gathered in the main conference chamber in the massive underground complex that was the research part of the training base. A large circular table dominated the room with a hanging ring of lights directly over it. It could seat a dozen people in comfortable black chairs, each with their own monitor angling up from below the surface and a control panel. A holographic projector was set in the center of the glossy black surface to display objects in greater detail.

All six Guardians, General Hammond, Captain Majourny, Colonel Markson and one of Commander Harana's aids were in attendance awaiting the arrival of the commander and the Queen Mother. They hadn't been waiting long when Harana and Silvara exited the commander's office to join the group. Everyone rose from their seats in deference to the Queen Mother and sat after she did.

"Before we begin," Silvara said, "we all recognize that the assaults made on the training base by my people and the Guardian Force were not strictly real world. As Guardian Cobretti pointed out in the exercise planning, any assault force approaching the base would have been shot down long before reaching the base. That was not the point of the exercise. The point was to see how our respective people operate and learn something from one another."

That said, the briefing commenced.

The exchange was informative. The Shrike APCs were vulnerable to a determined enemy despite the impressive firepower they carried. One Guardian took out all four, and was destroyed when the last APC self-destructed. The fighting inside the base ran about as expected regardless of the composition of the assault teams. Although all teams and Guardians had been destroyed in the simulations, there was something to be said for the teamwork of Colonel Markson's platoons. Val-kyrie tended toward single combat dating back to their beginning over a thousand years ago. There was no greater honor than taking on an opponent in single combat and winning. Even a defeat could be honorable depending upon the circumstances.

Warship crews fought with the mindset of ship and crew as one entity for honor and glory. As individuals, the Val-kyrie were fearsome. Moving as one race, they were unstoppable.

Commander Harana had gotten her wish to engage Adrian one-on-one. It had been an epic battle for the commander. It certainly lasted longer than she had expected; over an hour of harrowing hunter/hunted stalking through the corridors of the base. Her only demand in the planning stage was that they leave it all on the battlefield.

They did and then some.

When it was all over, the battle turned out to be Harana's only draw with still no defeats on her record. Adrian had known early on that he probably couldn't defeat her outright, but a draw would be respectable. Each warrior had made the other earn that draw in spades. Both were so exhausted that there was a concern that Adrian would be in no shape for the second battle the following day against Colonel Markson's platoons.

Adrian slept the majority of the time while the base was reset for the second exercise. The Sorceress woke him up about an hour before the dropships arrived to deploy the four platoons. Aside from the Sorceress, he had been the most energetic in the second exercise. Unconfirmed reports had it that Captain Takamora was smarting from his bout with the Sorceress. Even though he'd won the engagement, he had not been in very good shape to enjoy the victory. That was the reason for his late arrival for the final engagement with War Wing.

All the training exercises were meant to evaluate personnel and equipment for performance, to identify weaknesses and to develop ways to best employ them. Adrian also suspected that the intense evaluations of the Guardians and their operators was for more than just how best to employ them in future operations. He suspected that they were a guide in how best to defend _against_ them should the unthinkable happen.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The battlesuits represented the ultimate power. While they were not indestructible, they were damned hard to kill. And they could do a lot of damage in the meantime. Five of the six operators sworn that they would never be corrupted by the power of the ancient weapons, but the temptation was always there. The Sorceress was the one in the best position to know that. The secrets inside Castle Grayskull had lured despots, tyrants, and would-be dictators into trying to capture the castle and take those secrets for their own ends. Even she admitted to the temptations Falcon's design offered.

The meeting broke up after several hours of intense review. Adrian retreated to the workshop to continue working on a saber to replace the one he had given the Queen Mother after hers had been damaged during her fight with the rebellious Senator Bregata. Adrian had not asked for it back nor had the Queen Mother offered to return it.

Silvara found Adrian hard at work putting the finishing touches on the new saber handle. Design schematics lay scattered across the top of the work bench along with tools and parts. While beam saber design was basic, handle designs varied by the person using it. War Wing's saber in battle form were two individual handles meant for two-handed combat. The combat form sabers were meant for the same purpose. Since Adrian was building a new one, he decided to add a feature to connect the handles end to end and create a dual blade weapon. Where Darth Maul's weapon was a single unit with a blade at each end, Adrian intended his to be assembled and disassembled at will during combat.

"I hope you didn't finally work up the nerve to return the saber," Adrian commented without looking up from his work.

"How do you _do_ that? Hardly anyone hears me sneaking up on them."

"Then you admit to sneaking around in your own kingdom." Adrian spoke it as a statement rather than a question. "I sensed a presence. Thought it might be a certain bird woman."

"I believe the Sorceress is checking on Falcon. I think she is also concerned about her battle with Captain Takamora."

Adrian shrugged absently. "Hohiro doesn't hold grudges; if anything, he'll be happy that his little girl is all grown up. I heard she made him work for the victory." He turned to face the Queen Mother. "I noticed Commander Harana was moving a bit stiffly."

"Indeed, but she's happy her win streak is intact."

Fighting to a draw didn't count for or against a fight record. And since the commander had never lost a fight in personal combat, the best Adrian could have hoped for was to fight her to a draw.

"You didn't slink down here just to gossip. I hope you weren't thinking of returning that saber I gave you."

"Oh, no. I just wanted to give you this." She held out her right hand and uncurled her fingers. A red shard lay in the palm. It was the focusing crystal from the saber. "Red really isn't my color."

Adrian plucked the shard from the woman's hand. "I'm guessing silver?"

Silvara chuckled. Being that the Queen Mother's hair was silver from birth it contributed to her mother naming her Silvara. "How is the training on the new starship going?"

"Well enough. Kragor was an excellent pilot so I have all his experience and knowledge. Cirandar was the better navigator. We have been changing up the roles so that either of us can operate that ship as needed," Adrian explained.

"Although few records survived the Great War, what little we do have on the original operators turned up some interesting rumors."

"Such as?"

"Kragor and Cirandar were excellent in their respective tasks of piloting and navigating. As good as any pair could be," Silvara explained. "There was another which indicated that Kragor and Cirandar may have been…involved."

"You mean a personal relationship?"

The Queen Mother nodded.

"Well, if they were, the Sorceress and I have found no indications of it. There was nothing in the life experiences impressed on the battlesuits in that regard. So, there is no influence on us concerning that."

Satisfied, Silvara said, "Good. There are enough complications where those battlesuits are concerned."

Adrian changed the subject. "I noticed the computer is not active in the simulator. I hope no one is planning to spring something on us."

Silvara put her best innocent look. "I don't know what you mean."

"I've heard some of the computers your people use "speaking". All of them have female voices. One or two had learning programs and personalities. There have been rumors about those personalities."

Silvara muttered something under her breath. Adrian guessed it had to do with Anyssa. "The class of starship we are giving you as a replacement for the _Ladyhawke_ is the latest in our line of testing platforms. We have been testing computer control systems in them," Silvara confessed. "Some of them have had issues. The one in your ship should feel right at home."

"Why does that not put my mind at ease?"

Silvara simply smiled knowingly and left him to finish building the new energy saber.

The Sorceress slammed herself back in the seat and threw her arms up in frustration. "This is impossible! Cirandar was a navigator, not a pilot."

After completing the new energy saber, Adrian had met the Sorceress in the simulator to continue training on the new starship that was to become the replacement _Ladyhawke_. He turned in his seat to look at his pilot. "And Kragor was no navigator, but we have to learn these positions. You know why. You flew the _Ladyhawke_ when I got shot up on that planet in the unclaimed zone between Horde space and Val-kyrie space. And you landed on the deck of a battlestar without ever having done it even in a simulator. That's more than I've done."

The Sorceress knew Adrian was right. They couldn't just keep to their respective tasks. The mission to the penal planet was proof enough of that. However, the old bounty hunter ship had been an extensively modified freighter. This new starship was more technologically advanced and not as easy to learn to fly. They had made a few runs in the actual ship, but those had been conducted with Adrian in the pilot's seat.

The simulator mimicked the real ship. The bridge was long and narrow. The wall was a giant wrap-around monitor screen instead of small forward one. Small pop-up windows could appear anywhere the crew desired for convenience. The floor was dominated by the crew station's module that vaguely resembled a spaceship without wings. The two aft stations faced – one each – to the port and starboard sides. Those stations could be configured to monitor sensors, shipboard functions, and could operate the offensive and defensive weapons on those sides of the starship. The navigator's position was at the forward end of the module with the pilot's right behind that and just forward of the aft positions.

The older controls were tactile buttons, switches and levels. The latest version was mostly touch screens with few buttons. Only the joystick on the right-hand console and the multifunction throttle lever on the left in the pilot's compartment were retained. There was an overhead console that would lower from the ceiling for the pilot or navigator to use when required. Any one position could be configured to fly the ship if necessary, but the pilot and navigator positions were the most interchangeable in that regard.

When the Sorceress refused to do anything more than sulk, Adrian continued. "When you first took over as the guardian of the castle, did magic come easy to you?" He had to prod her several more times to answer.

"Simple spells were a matter of thinking what I wanted to do and it happened," she finally answered. "Later, I began experimenting with my newfound powers."

"And?" Adrian prodded.

"I had successes…and failures."

"Did you give up?"

Annoyed, Sorceress snapped, "Clearly, I did not."

"Then why is this any different? You told me once that being away from the castle is probably the best thing that could have happened. Knowing everything but being restricted from helping your friends tore at you every time." Adrian paused to see if he was getting through to her. "Now you have to learn as you go along just like the rest of us. Personally, I think you are becoming a better person for it. Besides," he gave her a lop-sided grin- "men are intimidated by know-it-all women." She tried to keep a straight face, but finally cracked a smile and relaxed. The Sorceress did not have to master piloting the starship before they left Val-kyre, she just had to have an understanding of how to do it in a pinch. There was the computer to assist in operating the starship, though Adrian confessed to an unease over what they were getting after his conversation with the Queen Mother.

"You can be so annoying at times."

"Well, I've had lots of practice," Adrian said, turning back to the controls.

They went through the simple maneuvers a couple more times before quitting for the day. The Sorceress made some improvement, but she acknowledged she would need a lot more practice. Adrian vowed to make her practice just as much as he was going to practice at navigation even if it meant dragging the Sorceress kicking and screaming onto the starship's bridge for simulator runs.

General Hammond met with Jo-jo Majourny onboard the _Eternia_ to see how preparations were going. As much as he liked building a relationship with their new ally, he needed to return to Earth and report to President Alexander about the mission and what they planned to do next.

They met in the drop bay where Colonel Markson's platoons were securing the Shrike APCs in the aft equipment bays where the old APCs had been kept. A load of spare parts for the most common breakages due to wear and tear had been moved aboard and stored earlier in the day.

"We should be ready by tomorrow," Jo-jo said. "I know you need to get back and report to President Alexander. I hear Adrian and the Sorceress will be ready to leave for the planet Wayfarer at about the same time. I heard they went up for their first flight in the starship."

Hammond nodded. "They shuttled up to the orbital docks and will spend the tomorrow getting checked out on the ship. It will be painted after that. Then we can leave."

"You know you could have asked for anything you wanted after we helped Silvara save her people from a very bad situation."

"Yes, but I'm more interested in allies then gathering all the technology we can get. That's why she gave us the assault carriers. The offer of the starship was made strictly to Adrian and Sorceress," the general explained. "After all, they need a replacement if they are going to keep up the charade as bounty hunters."

Jo-jo looked at him, a wry grin touching her lips. "You know we created a monster, don't you? I think the Sorceress is enjoying that charade a little too much."

Hammond shrugged. "It beats her average day in the castle, or so she says."

Jo-jo couldn't put off what she was thinking any longer. "Do you have any idea what we will be walking into back home?"

"No idea. The World President gave his blessing, if you can call it that, when you recovered the battlesuits." The general sighed. "If he goes back on that, it won't be overtly. His team is embattled enough as it is. Roshenko has no time to worry about us." Hammond didn't voice his own opinion that the World President might be in league with the Horde. Or someone on his cabinet. The infiltrators in his command, the attack on his people when they had gone on leave into Las Vegas, failed attempts at sabotage all pointed to someone high up colluding with the enemy.

People had hobbies. Adrian built model airplanes and starships. The Sorceress researched ancient Eternian history and experimented with spells. General Hammond collected secrets other people would wish never to see the light of day. The secrets he had come into possession of since that day two years ago when the Horde starships arrived on Earth were disturbing at worst, with a few frightening ones thrown in for good measure.

As they continued to watch operation in the bay, Hammond wondered what would be thrown at them next. And who would be behind it.

30


	7. Ch 5

Five

Pretoria Research and Training Base

Planet Val-kyre

10 August 2017

The costumer made some minute adjustments to the new outfit the Sorceress was going to wear as the Cobra's bounty hunting companion, and stepped back. "How does that feel?"

Sorceress looked herself up and down in the full-length mirror. Silver boots with solid heels instead of separate spikes for better stability reached up to mid-thigh. Silver cups pointed at the bottom ends protected the shoulders. Metal lightning bolt effects stretched across the tops of her breasts with an exaggerated diamond piece centered on the sternum. A silver panel wrapped around from the back to cross under the ribs and end in a point on the lower belly. Three more stretched diamonds were set in this band. The silver was offset by a tight-fitting blue jumpsuit that left the upper chest bare. The base color of the costume was the same shade of blue as the beak of the falcon head dress.

"It feels like a second skin," Sorceress finally admitted.

"That's good. Now for the cape.

The cape was the same shade of blue. It was one piece that had to be pulled on over her head and settled about her shoulders with the hood down for the moment. The cape stretched down to the ankles and flowed almost with a life of its own. The costumer showed the Sorceress how to set the garment in place so that the material stayed in place across the shoulders, since there was not enough of it to enclose her shapely body.

Sorceress appraised the addition. She hardly recognized herself. Since arriving on Earth over two years ago, she had toned her muscles and developed a more athletic body. The Sorceress was less top heavy as a result, but that pleased her. She nodded her pleasure at the look.

The costumer raised the hood and set it in place on the crown of the head. It had enough volume that it would obscure the wearer's features if pulled fully down. The woman turned to the only male in the room sitting in a shadowed corner. "What do you think?"

Several witty remarks sprang immediately to mind, but Adrian refrained. Barely. He rose from the stool and stepped into the pool of light. He was already dressed as the one-eyed bounty hunter the Val-kyrie had eliminated for Adrian to take his place. Dressed all in black from leather pants to cotton shirt, heavy duty boots with built-in armor, and a gun belt with an attached holster strapped to each thigh; Adrian cut a near spitting image of the real man down to the dark hair and goatee.

The Sorceress didn't shrink away from his gaze as he looked her carefully up and down. While she would have felt like she was being sized up under a lecherous gaze from almost any other man, Adrian never looked at her in that way. She also sensed that there was something missing from the makeover.

Finally, Adrian snapped his fingers. "Red highlights. Put red highlights in your hair from the tips to maybe a third of the way up."

Sorceress closed her eyes, visualized the change and tapped into the planes of magic generated by all living beings in the universe to make it happen.

Adrian smiled. "Now the image is complete."

Sorceress turned back to the mirror and agreed with his assessment.

The door opened and the sentry posted outside poked her head in long enough to announce the imminent arrival of Colonel Markson. Adrian faded back into the shadows and stood extremely still as the door opened again to admit the colonel.

Markson pulled up short in the doorway when greeted with the sight of the two women. "I'm sorry. I was told Adrian and the Sorceress were here getting dressed for their mission."

Sorceress opened her mouth to reply, but the costumer beat her to it. "They just left. I believe they were headed for the flight line to watch the new starship being brought for them."

"Oh…uh… Okay." The colonel took one more lasting look at the Sorceress and departed.

The three waited a few moments to make sure the colonel wouldn't suddenly return, and then burst out laughing.

"That was evil," Sorceress said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"But we now know that the make-over was effective," Adrian replied. "Besides, you enjoyed that." He picked up a duster-style coat and shrugged it on. Another costumer materialized from somewhere in the darkened fitting room and handed Adrian the shoulder harness he had requested. It would allow him to wear one of his two auto-pistols under the left arm, with pouches for two spare clips nestled under the right arm. He thanked the woman and stuffed the bundle into a deep coat pocket.

"Ancients help me," Sorceress sighed, "but, yes, I did."

"We'd better go before the colonel gets suspicious and comes back."

Adrian swept out of the room as the lights came up. Sorceress looked around at the dress forms, sewing machines, drawing boards, and the expansive rack containing bolts of fabric and briefly fantasized about what could be made here. She shook off her reverie and followed her friend out into the corridor.

Commander Harana was waiting for her outside the building. Adrian was already on his way to the flight line in another vehicle so that Harana could have a moment alone with the Sorceress. They climbed into the open-air cockpit. Harana engaged the engine and sped off.

"That look suits you. No one would recognize you," Harana commented.

 _Not even my own daughter,_ Sorceress thought. "We had a successful test on the colonel."

"Yes. He's searching for you out on the ramp. He'll be mad when he finds out," Harana said. Silence followed for a time as she drove through the checkpoint accessing the flight line at the southern end of the base where her command – the research and development part – lay in a massive multi-level underground installation. The rest of the facility to the west was devoted to training new pilots. "Have you ever thought about the future?"

The Sorceress' head snapped around. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's a simple enough question. I think about it all the time. While commanding the research and development installation has been fulfilling, to say nothing of upgrading and re-equipping the Guardians in my lifetime, I find it isn't enough." Harana paused to consider how to broach the subject she was leading up to and decided to be a typical Val-kyrie and just say it. "When you find that special someone you have to grab on tight with both hands and don't let go. Sometimes they appear where you least expect them to be. Or who you would expect. Do you understand?"

Sorceress nodded. "But how will I know? I mean _really know_?"

Harana made an offhand gesture. "Oh, the heart knows these things. You just have to listen to it." She slowed the vehicle to a halt behind and to the left of the starship _Eternia_. It seemed that the entire crew was gathered in the shadow under the great ship, waiting for the new _Ladyhawke_ to arrive. She spotted Colonel Markson, General Hammond and Captain Majourny standing apart from the rest of the crew. Adrian was just walking up to the group.

Harana and the Sorceress exited the vehicle and strode across the permacrete toward the small group. Nodding toward Adrian, Harana said, "Don't let that one get away. Someone may steal him when you aren't looking."

The Sorceress' mouth dropped open, but nothing came out. Instead, she clamped her mouth shut and made sure the hood remained in place.

The day was bright and sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky. There only a slight breeze to speak of. A perfect day for flying.

Colonel Markson noticed the newcomers first. He squinted at woman he had seen earlier. "Sorceress?" he asked slowly. When she nodded, he bellowed, "Ass-HOLE!"

Everyone chuckled at his expense.

"We needed a test and you just happened to the unlucky one," Adrian said, grinning. "You have to admit; this new look is effective."

"If the Horde uses facial recognition on her now, they will never match her up as the Sorceress of Grayskull," Harana added.

"I know. I know. We took a risk getting that mission launched, but we really still need this bounty hunter gig?"

"I still think it could be useful," Hammond said. "I know Adrian hates the longer hair and goatee, but making an alliance with Boss Nash could prove useful."

"Yeah, but for whom?"

"We'll see."

"I kinda like the goatee," the Sorceress said absently.

"What was that?" Adrian and Jo-jo said together.

The Sorceress' cheeks reddened in embarrassment. "Uh, nothing."

"Nash isn't stupid. Aside from being almost respectable and never dealing in drugs, slavery and any of the nasty stuff the other crime families engage in, he's the most likely one to figure out Adrian is not the real Cobra. And he is the most likely to keep the secret," Harana explained, hastily changing the subject.

Markson snorted. "For a price. There's always a price with those people."

"True," Harana conceded. "But his prices have always been reasonable, which is why my people are willing to deal with him. And he has helped us out on many occasions."

"It's coming," Jo-jo spoke up, pointing.

They were facing to the east with the base spread out behind them. A speck to the north steadily grew as the new starship approached on line with the runway. It grew steadily until the gathering of people could finally make out the sleek lines and powerful engines of the craft. Not much else could be seen as the starship streaked by at high speed. The shockwave of sound blew across the tarmac a second or two in its wake.

Commander Harana pulled a comm link from a pocket. "Nice entrance. Now come about and fly by again. Low and slow."

The pilot brought the starship around and soared by as instructed.

The new _Ladyhawke_ measured a little over one hundred meters long. Three engines were mounted on reinforced pylons backed up by arching structural spans between them. Early testing of the new zero-point energy generator, enhanced inertia dampening and structural integrity systems produced a combat craft that exceeded the capabilities of even the best crew the Val-kyre had to offer. The reinforcements to the engine pylons came about because the advanced maneuvering system placed enormous stress on those areas. As a result, the ZPM core at the aft end of the hull, the pylons, and support arches were all made from precious Etherium alloy, as it was the only substance that could take the strain of extreme maneuvering even in space. Wing-like pods on the sides flared out wide at the front and tapered back to the diamond-shaped section forward of the engineering space. Blue panels at the front concealed the twin plasma blasters, one per side, along with a torpedo launcher on each side. Amidships on the sides were three square panels with the defensive batteries of anti-torpedo and anti-missile launchers.

"She's the fastest, most maneuverable ship in existence for her class," Harana explained as the pilot brought the starship around for landing. "Originally, this class was designed as a kind of fast cruiser with the comparable firepower of a battle cruiser. However, with the advances made for the battlestar design, she was consigned to the scrapyard. About thirty years ago, she was recovered, refurbished and began a new life as a series of continuously upgraded testbeds to experiment with new systems and the latest advances to ensure that system upgrades would work and play well with others."

Harana gestured to the starship touching down on quad landing struts and rolling sedately down the runway. "This is the latest generation built from the spaceframe up to be a sort of special missions craft. She requires only a crew of four, but can be operated effectively with a crew of two and the onboard computer. With our current advances in weapons and maneuvering systems, and in the hands of the right crew, this ship likely can take on a battleship and either cripple or kill it. Battle cruisers will be no match for her."

"Can't wait to get acquainted," Adrian said, beaming.

The Sorceress carefully guarded her emotions, but she, too, was looking forward to seeing what the ship could do. She frowned at the that disturbing line of thought. After years of observing the passage of events from the relative safety of Castle Grayskull, her new role as operator of one of the legendary Guardian battlesuits and fighting on the frontlines still took some getting used to.

"There's just one thing," Harana cautioned.

Adrian frowned. "Here it comes," he muttered, remembering the Queen Mother's comments about this gift.

"The ship's AI is a little eccentric."

"You don't say," the Sorceress replied, soto voce.

"Compared to the six Guardians, how bad can it be?" Colonel Markson asked. He had heard the Guardian AIs were eccentric and sometimes prone to being smartasses; even Falcon got in a good shot from time to time, just like her operator.

"Well, we didn't have the heart to deactivate the AI after all the work that had gone into the programming, so…"

"So, you thought we might be able to tame the shrew," Adrian sighed.

Harana shrugged. "There wasn't time to construct a new one from scratch. The other test ships did not have one anywhere close to what you will need to make efficient use of that ship."

The new _Ladyhawke_ pulled up along the left side the _Eternia_. After a few minutes idling, the engines shut down. There were two white sections on the belly. The aft one was a cargo bay with a railing system to move ordinance into the internal magazines via rounded structures running half the length of the ventral fuselage. A white panel on the forward part recessed and separated. A platform slowly lowered to the ground where a ramp extended. Two crewmembers left the platform and made a beeline straight for Commander Harana.

Seen up close, Adrian could see that the starship was as long the _Eternia_ , but not as wide. Captain Majourny's command had been redesigned internally to handle four dropships, their twenty-eight man platoons, and all support material. Then there was the ship's crew numbering about one-hundred twenty. The _Ladyhawke_ , by comparison, was overpowered and over gunned for its size.

Harana dismissed the flight crew and turned to Adrian and the Sorceress. "I'm officially turning the new starship _Ladyhawke_ over to you," she said to Adrian. "As soon as you can, I would advise setting the passcode to lock out the systems when you aren't aboard. Currently, there isn't one." She clasped forearms with the pair – the Val-kyrie equivalent of a handshake on Earth – and returned to the ground vehicle and return to her command.

Adrian turned to General Hammond. "Any last thoughts, orders, or advice?"

"None that I can think of," Hammond said after a moment's thought. "Except for an ancient Egyptian prayer, I can't think of a thing that we haven't already discussed."

"Then we'll see you on Earth in a couple days."

The Sorceress waited until she and Captain Majourny were alone. "You have a few last thoughts?"

Jo-jo nodded. "If you two have dinner somewhere, it doesn't count."

"We plan to have a quiet dinner when we get back to Earth."

"Yes, well, we'll have to talk about this date of yours."

"It's dinner," the Sorceress insisted.

"It's a _date_ , but we can argue about it later. You'd better go," Jo-jo said, making a shooing gesture, "before he leaves without you."

Sighing heavily, the Sorceress turned and walked across the tarmac to the platform where Adrian stood waiting. She did not understand the big deal about this dinner plan they had set up before they left on the mission to the penal planet. It had been made as a plan to have a reason to survive and return home. Home. When did she start thinking of Earth as her home instead of Eternia?

Colonel Markson waited at the _Eternia_ 's forward ramp for the general and Captain Majourny. "Are you sure this is a smoking hot idea?"

"Didn't you ask that when they were selected for the mission to the penal planet? I thought we settled this," Hammond said. "It's not like you to get stuck in a rut."

"You forget the four ex-wives, sir," Jo-jo put it in."

"I'm not stuck in a rut," Markson complained. "And it's three ex-wives. Not four."

"Let's get going. I must report to President Alexander as soon as we return. And I have a suspicion the World President is going to try once again to dictate what, where and how we operate," Hammond said, leading the way up the ramp.

Jo-jo remained behind to ensure all her crew had boarded the ship. She turned to look one last time at the new starship. The platform had retracted back into the forward loading bay and the hatch was closed. She looked across the tarmac to the new _Ladyhawke_ gleaming in the morning sunlight. At first, she thought the overall color was red, but she now saw that it was more of a reddish orange. The exact same color at the feather cape of the Sorceress' costume. As her gaze swept the length of the hull, Jo-jo noticed that all the other colors of her costume – yellow, white, black and blue - were all represented. Coincidence? Jo-jo thought not. With a slight smile touching her lips, the captain turned and strode up the boarding ramp.

Adrian and the Sorceress boarded the loading platform. At a touch of the controls, the ramp retracted and the platform slowly rose into the belly of the starship. Once inside, the hull plates slide closed. The pair climbed a ladder at the aft end of the platform to the second deck that ran the length of the ship. This deck had the personal quarters for the usual crew of four, a tiny section that was laughingly called a sick bay, general storage compartments, armory, and access to the engineering space at the aft end of the ship. A short walk aft brought them to another ladder that led up to the first deck.

The pair emerged into a short corridor. Left led into bridge area while right took them into the galley, which could substitute for a conference room, lounge, and had other uses. They entered the bridge from the starboard aft quarter. The layout was just like the simulator with the addition of a hatch just behind the central control stations. This gave access to the electronics bay immediately below the bridge where the command and control systems, and the computer core, were located.

They deposited their coat and cape on the seat facing to starboard. Adrian climbed into the pilot's seat while the Sorceress took the forward station; navigator's seat. They began the preflight checks and powered up the systems. The wall panels came alive and displayed a wraparound image of the surroundings outside the ship.

"It's about time you showed," a feminine voice said. A cone-like device was mounted on the ceiling just forward of the navigation seat. The flat bottom faced the crew and had lit up like a meter at the same time the voice issued over a concealed speaker. "I was getting lonely after the last crew left."

"Are you the ship's computer?" the Sorceress asked.

"Well, of course I am," the AI replied, indignant. "Who else would I be? One of those obnoxious battlesuits sitting in my aft cargo hold?"

Brow furrowed in confusion, she said, "Obnoxious battlesuits?"

Adrian snorted. "War Wing and Falcon. Apparently, they don't approve of their accommodations." Addressing the visual marker, he asked, "And what name did the Val-kyrie give you?"

"I am Mirriam. I am the command and control AI assigned to prototype cruiser X-31. Operational name _Ladyhawke_ ," Mirriam responded, full of pride. "I am superior to those two currently stored in the cargo hold. A good place for them, I might add."

"You are hardly superior," Falcon retorted over the comm system. "We are very different, as War Wing and I have repeated tried to tell you."

"We are highly specialized in our respective functions, so comparisons are meaningless," War Wing injected.

A nice civil explanation from War Wing? Adrian made a note to call _Ripley's Believe It or Not_ once they got back to Earth. He cut off any further debate before an AI civil war started. "You three can debate this later. Let's get ready to depart. Mirriam, if your pride isn't too bruised, would you please call the tower and request clearance to taxi and take-off?"

"If you insist. I thought your companion was the commander here. Pity. I'm not sure I can handle taking orders from a – male."

"Snarky, isn't she?"

"Yes. Now we know why the Queen Mother and Commander Harana refused to elaborate on the nature of the computer," Sorceress said, plotting the course for the planet Wayfarer.

"A trip down to the electronics trunk and a little fiddling with her higher brain functions will cure that," Adrian stated, looking over the status boards as more systems powered up.

"You would lobotomize me. Turn me into an emotionless servant," Mirriam protested.

"It's simple. Learn to live with your new crew; get lobotomized; or my companion takes Falcon's electromagnetic staff into the electronics trunk and starts playing around with your circuits to see how hardened they really are against EMP surges," Adrian explained, trying not to smile as he laid out the options for the recalcitrant AI.

After a long pause, Mirriam answered, "Oh, very well. I suppose it wouldn't kill me to try." A second later, "We have clearance to depart."

From the bridge of the _Eternia_ , Jo-jo and her crew watched the cruiser pull out and cross in front of her ship. Her request to depart had been granted. _Eternia_ was number two for takeoff behind the _Ladyhawke_.

General Hammond and Colonel Markson flanked the captain's chair. They marveled at the size of the starship even though it only took a crew of four to operate effectively. "That must be some ship to fly," Hammond commented as Ace taxied out behind the other ship.

"I'd love to take her for a spin," Ace said, wistfully.

"That starship has been entrusted to the care of Adrian and the Sorceress. Per my agreement with the Queen Mother, absolutely no one else is to go near that ship," Hammond reminded him.

Crestfallen, Ace turned back to his controls. As he slowed to a stop near the southern end of the runway, _Ladyhawke_ 's engines throttled up to full power. Exhaust flame almost fifty feet in length blazed from the nozzles. The brakes were released and the starship practically leaped down the runway. After covering a quarter of the distance, the starship nosed up slightly to break contact with the ground. The landing struts retracted; the wells sealed by blue panels. As the ship approached the far end, the nose suddenly canted up hard. After crossing one thousand feet in height, the engines throttle up and blasted the _Ladyhawke_ skyward. Adrian threw the starship into a corkscrew as it rose out of sight on three slowly dispersing plumes of white smoke. The tower called with permission for _Eternia_ to pull onto the runway and takeoff.

As Ace lined up on the runway, Jo-jo said, "Ace, make it a nice normal takeoff."

"But captain -" Ace protested.

"Ace, make it a _normal_ takeoff or I'll have you flying cargo planes full of rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong for the next year!" Captain Majourny commanded sternly.

"Yes, captain," Ace sighed, throttling up the engines.

Markson leaned in to whisper to Jo-jo, "Nice _Top Gun_ reference."

"Thanks," she whispered back out of the corner of her mouth.

Once in orbit, _Eternia_ cruised along waiting for the _Ladyhawke_ to catch up. After several orbits, the other starship zoomed up alongside. The two ships soared in formation for a few seconds before the _Ladyhawke_ fired the bow thrusters on the port side. Four jets of misty flame pushed the nose to point out toward open space. The main engines throttled up and the great ship broke orbit. _Eternia_ followed moments later taking a parallel course. The orbital controller directed both ships onto the course for the designated section of the defensive perimeter that they were to pass through on their way out of the solar system.

Forward of the helm and navigation station was a large rectangular screen that could display whatever information the captain required. The expansive sloping canopy could offer breathtaking views of whatever was immediately outside the ship; however, it took the powerful sensor suite to bring up the arrays of dockyards floating in space out beyond the planet's gravity well. Immense warships were docked in most of the bays. Even though the crew had spent time on board on of those vessels returning from their last mission, Jo-jo still couldn't help but be awed by the size and power of the Val-kyrie capital ships called battlestars.

Each warship was a small fleet unto itself. It sported ten primary cannons for capital ship battles, could field three hundred Bladewing starfighters, perform orbital bombardments and land a sizeable army for ground operations. Defensive arrays were set up in three levels using flak batteries, railguns and plasma projectors. The design really lived up to its name because no matter what direction an enemy approached from, including the vulnerable stern, over one hundred weapons could be focused on the enemy. Four forward torpedo launchers and two aft launchers rounded out the incredible firepower. To date, only one Horde vessel had survived battle with the Mark Twenty battlestar. The battleship _Hoscar,_ under the command of Captain Dragnar and flagship of General Rongar's Fifth Fleet, made it through the engagement, but was so badly wrecked as to be unsalvageable. No one knew whether anyone had survived, but Val-kyrie intelligence was diligently working on finding out.

A window opened in the upper left corner of the screen. The image of the _Ladyhawke_ 's bridge appeared as viewed from the port side. The eyepatch covering Adrian's left eye, long dark brown hair, and full goatee gave him a sinister air. Even though they knew the woman seated in the foreground was the Sorceress, the change in appearance was so complete that she could have been someone else.

Adrian glanced toward the unseen camera. "About time you showed up. What took you?"

"Not all of us can be showoffs," Conner 'Ace' McCloud replied neutrally.

"Threatened you with the cargo runs of rubber dog shit, huh?" Adrian chuckled. "Looks like the _Logoss_ is finally getting repair underway."

"I don't think Commander Fontaine will be available for our next mission," Jo-jo replied.

Fontaine's command was the one that had been available for support when the Guardian Force infiltrated the Horde penal planet called Hel to liberate He-man, She-ra and any other survivors who wanted off the planet. _Logoss_ had been damaged in a confrontation with a Horde battleship. The damage had been minor; however, it had been done to the delicately balanced heat sink system that cooled the hyperdrive while it was in operation. The journey back from the edge of Val-kyrie-controlled space had taken eight days when the trip normally takes no more than two because the ship had to travel in hops to give the drive time to cool between legs. The battlestar dropped out of hyperspace on the edge of the home system just as the hyperdrive failed.

"I'm sure they have other capable commanders who can support us, if needed," Adrian replied, confidently. "Any last thoughts, general?"

Hammond shook his head. "Except for an ancient Egyptian prayer, I think we covered everything."

The starships passed through the defensive ring without incident. Each turned on a course for their respective destinations and roared off under full power.

"Well, we'll see you back on Earth in a couple days, then," Adrian said.

"Stay out of trouble until we get back," the Sorceress added.

Unable to resist a parting shot, Adrian added, "And for God's sake _watch your back!_ " The window disappeared as the connection was closed before anyone could reply.

Colonel Markson hung his head and sighed. "That's not going away any time soon."

"Well you did have to shoot him in the back," Hammond reminded him.

"He told me if they every went rogue to use all means necessary to stop them."

Jo-jo looked thoughtful. "As I understand it, stabbing Corporal Frost with the low power saber was an act he meant for you."

"So, what? I should let him stab me with one in the back to even the score?" the colonel demanded.

"Well, I'm sure it would be a start."

"Relax, Jon," General Hammond said, soothingly. "I'm sure he'll let you live it down. Eventually."

When both starships were safely beyond the fourth planet in the system, and above the ecliptic, energy clouds formed in front of them. With tendrils reaching out, both shot through into hyperspace.

39


	8. Ch 6

Six

Boss Nash Family Space Station

Wayfarer Star System

11 August 2017

A repeating, rhythmic noise chipped away at Adrian's subconscious. He turned over and clutched the pillow around his head. He just wanted the noise to stop, but it didn't. As consciousness took over, he realized what the noise was. Mirriam had been ordered to notify him when a message was received from Boss Nash.

"Allrightallrightallright! Already!" Adrian flopped onto his back and stared up at the dark ceiling. "Yes?"

"You wanted to be notified when Boss Nash made contact." Mirriam made more of a statement of fact than a question.

"Does this mean you have received a message?"

"Well, that was your order. I didn't sound the alert just for kicks. Besides, if it hasn't worked by now, no amount of beauty sleep is going to make a difference."

Adrian sat up and swung his legs over the right side of the bed. Grumbling something about making a note to pull Mirriam's higher logic circuits, Adrian moved to the desk to his right and plopped down in the padded chair. The computer monitor came to life and displayed the text message. He read it twice before turning the monitor off. The starship had been in hyperspace for almost ten hours with still half a day to go.

Adrian rose again when they were two hours out from the Wayfarer system. He freshened up, dressed in the black pants, boots, and leather shirt that had become the image of the bounty hunter known as Cobra. He left the duster and eyepatch behind in his quarters. Adrian used his metamorphic abilities to change the left eye into a sightless orb when required. He walked down the corridor, climbed the ladder to the upper deck and went aft into the galley. Within minutes, the smell of his cooking began wafting throughout the starship. Twenty minutes later, the Sorceress – calling herself Teelana – stepping into the galley. Her arrival was preceded by the growl of her stomach.

"Well, good morning to you, too," Adrian grinned, setting plates of steaming food on the round table.

Teelana frowned. "I thought you would have made more." She slid into the cushioned seat that wrapped around three-quarters of the table. The open side of the table faced the starboard bulkhead where a large monitor screen was mounted to the wall.

"We have been granted an audience with Boss Nash."

"What he means, dearie, is that the two of you have been invited to dinner on his family's space station," Mirriam elaborated, with a touch of irritation.

"So, we don't want to arrive with full stomachs," Adrian said, masking his ire with the computer. "That would be rude."

They finished a light snack of eggs, sausage, and toast in short order. Adrian cleaned up the remains, put the dirty dishes and such into the washer and joined Teelana on the flight deck.

The counter wound down to zero and Miriam dropped the starship back into normal space. As the sensors probed the surrounding space, a map of the local space appeared on the forward arc of the wall monitor. The fourth planet out from the star, Wayfarer was the hub of all activity in the system. All eleven crime families maintained lavish mansions on the surface where immediate family resided. They ruled their empires from those estates as well as corporate offices in the planet's largest city, aptly named Wayfarer City. In addition, each family maintained two massive space stations within the star system. One station was strictly a massive factory complex where raw materials were refined to produce whatever the star system required. Excess was sold on the black market for a substantial markup. The other station was a complex like Los Vegas in space; casinos, residential blocks, restaurants and anything else one could imagine. Only one planet and its two moons remained vacant. A thing ring of debris around the larger moon indicated that something artificial had once been there.

Their destination was the fifth planet and its single moon. A massive industrial complex orbited the moon while a slightly smaller station orbited a gas planet about the size of Neptune complete with a stunning expanse of ice rings. Adrian set the course while Mirriam, reluctantly, called the station control for approach and docking instructions.

The closer they drew to the station; the more impressed Adrian was with the construction. Their course had taken them past the industrial station. Where that one had been more of a rectangle built up and expanded as needed, this one was designed on a more vertical plane. The central structure was a series of four interconnected towers locked into a thick base. Massive hubs reminding Adrian of hockey pucks were anchored to the base by massive tubes. These were the docking areas, and the _Ladyhawke_ was being directed to one of them. Each hub had a number painted on the top and bottom. They had been assigned to hub number three.

Sensors indicated that the massive tapering structure below the docking ring housed the series of fusion reactors that powered the immense station.

Mirriam didn't like handing over guidance to the hub control, but if they were ever going to dock, she had to swallow her pride and deal with it.

"And I thought the orbital docks in the Val-kyrie home system were huge," Adrian said, awed by the sheer size of the station. He wondered if the warrior women had ever attempted anything like this. He made a mental note to ask Anyssa the next time he saw her.

 _Ladyhawke_ was guided in to a slot along the outer hull about a quarter of the way around to the right. The layout appeared to be something like a parking garage only scaled up for starships. Like spokes on a wheel, starships were nosed into the open slots on each ring. The entire assemble was five rings deep – each inner one smaller than the previous – with a total of five levels. There were a lot of empty spaces in the outer rings, but the inner ones were almost full. Once settled in place, a boarding tube extended to link up with the port side airlock. The airlocks were hidden behind armored panels just forward of the three ports concealing the countermeasures tubes.

Docking clamps and power conduits were connected by robotic arms in short order. Mirriam accepted the changeover to station power, but blocked any attempts by the station's computer to add her to the network.

Adrian and Teelana stopped by their respective quarters. Adrian morphed his left eye into a sightless orb complete with the same scars running vertically from brow to cheek bone as the original bounty had sported. Rumor had it the man lost his eye in a bar fight, but more reliable reports stated that it had more to do with a dangerous bounty Cobra had been tracking. Adrian settled the eyepatch into place, shrugged on the duster, and stepped out into the corridor. He was only packing one pistol nestled under the left arm in shoulder leather. A combat knife balanced it under the right arm. He had several spare clips for the pistol tucked into a hip pocket.

Teelana stepped out of her quarters across the corridor from Adrian's settling the cape across her shoulders. The silver circlet was already in place on her head.

At the airlock, Adrian punched the control to equalize it with the station. While they waited, Teelana flipped the hood up on to the top of her head. The lock cycle completed and the hatch opened. The pair passed through the inner and outer doors to the boarding tube. Mirriam closed the hatches and promised to await their return with breathless anticipation. Both had warned her, War Wing, and Falcon to be on their best behavior while they were on the station. All three AIs grudgingly agreed.

The short walk through the semitransparent tube ended in a starkly grey docking arm. Metal grates ran the center length of the arm with plates on each side. The grates made the conduits under the floor more accessible, however, it was best if one did not suffer from claustrophobia when venturing down there. The walls and ceiling were lined with exposed support ribs. Aesthetics was not an issue in this part of the station. It had to be functional rather than pleasing to the eye.

The docking arm joined the main concourse where the scenery was more pleasing to the eye. Signs in multiple languages directed visitors to lifts to reach other levels in the docking hub and where the customs station was located to enter the station proper. Adrian and Teelana followed the arrows toward customs and stepped onto the walkway belt that facilitated getting around quicker. Adrian couldn't help comparing the wide corridor and walkway belts to airport terminals on Earth. Apparently, certain similarities were universal in basic design.

They reached the customs section in short order and awaited their turn. Traffic moved along at a steady pace and they soon found themselves facing a humanoid who looked unhappy in his job. Or maybe he was just having a rough day.

Cobra and Teelana presented their identification. If the man recognized the bounty hunter, he hid it well. "Purpose of visit? Business or pleasure?"

"A bit of both."

"There are no bounties here for you, hunter," the man growled. Apparently, he had a low opinion of bounty hunters.

"We are here at the invitation of the station owner, Boss Nash," Cobra explained. "Now, if you would rather report that we were turned away at customs, be my guest." He leaned in to add in a more conspiratorial tone, "However, I'd make sure my life insurance was up to date before doing so."

The agent turned to the computer at hand, tapped in a few commands, paled noticeably at the answer it gave, and looked up. "Your invitation is confirmed." He handed back the indent cards. "Follow the signs to the tram hub. The hotel and restaurant is on the far side of the station." As an afterthought, he muttered, "Enjoy your stay."

Speaking up for the first time, Teelana said with a smile, " _We_ will. Have a nice day!" She waved as they walked past the agent into the station.

Cobra slid back the cuff of his left fingerless glove to reveal the wrist comm strapped there. He keyed a preset frequency. A return tone sounded a second later. Pulling the glove back into place, he picked up the pace toward the tram dock.

"Remember, we want to keep a low profile. Move around like shadows," Teelana reminded him.

Cobra stopped dead in his tracks when they emerged from the adjoining tunnel. "I don't think that's going to be a problem."

Beings from hundreds of races moved about on whatever business they were on the station to conduct. There were representatives even Teelana could not identify. Beyond the tram hub was the vast space of the tower. Hover vehicles of every shape and form soared through the designated lanes at various levels in the massive structure. Cobra had assumed, incorrectly, that the towers were a solid mass, but the reality was very, very different.

The towers were very hollow. Many levels of traffic lanes for aircars flowed between the projections from the outer walls. City blocks jutted out with no aesthetics, rhyme or reason. Some sections were blocks. Others rounded in more pleasing shapes. Garish colors lit up the livelier sections that housed casinos, gaudy houses, and things better left unmentioned.

Cobra and Teelana joined the thrones of people heading from the tram station. He diverted them away from the terminal in favor of the aircar taxi station off to the right. Cobra wanted to get a better feel for the place, and the best way to do that was from the air.

The driver did not give his fares a first glance as they climbed into the back. He knew where the hotel was in Tower 3. Ordinarily, passengers wanted to go by the most direct route. This pair, however, wanted the scenic route so that they could observe the goings on around the station. Like most of the aircars, the taxis had an open compartment. He always likes to feel the wind against his face as he flew. It was as close to flying as he could get in an artificial environment such as this.

Twenty minutes after passing through customs, the pair arrived at their destination. Cobra paid the fare plus a generous tip, and then took in the sight of the hotel and casino Boss Nash owned and personally operated. Compared to the others the strip, Nash's hotel was almost mundane in appearance. A wide staircase led up to the main entrance fronted with towering colonnades. The rather unassuming name _Nash's Place_ stood out in bright neon lettering on the façade above the colonnades. Cobra understood that during the 'daylight' hours, polished brass lettering could be seen in place of the lighted sign. Currently, the station's lighting was set to just after dusk.

Cobra and Teelana strode leisurely up the steps and entered the lobby. Here, the decor was more ornate. Paintings of people neither recognized adorned the walls. Some were not even human or humanoid. Chandeliers grander than anything seen on Earth hung from the ceiling. At the lowest point, those monsters were more than thirty feet above the floor. While brightly lit, it was the indirect lighting that cast the most illumination. Bright white light was everywhere, but it wasn't painful to the eyes. Plush carpeting covered the floors in the seating areas and created walkways to the check-in counter off the left, the bank of lifts just past the counter, and across the way to the stairwells on the far right.

"The floor and columns look like they are covered in marble," Cobra observed. If the surfaces really were marble and not some cleaver substitute, that spoke to just how rich the crime families were.

"Tastefully done, at least," Teelana agreed. "Compared to the ads for the others we looked at."

An alien from a species neither one recognized checked them in, handed over keycards for their room, and informed them how best to get there. Cobra and Teelana took a lift to forty-third floor. A short walk down several connecting corridors brought them to their room. Cobra slid his card into the slot to the right of the door. The light above it changed from red to green and the door slid to the right. Ever the gentleman, Cobra gestured for Teelana to precede him inside.

Lights came on automatically as they pair moved deeper into what was a small apartment. The entryway had a small closet on the left. A short flight of steps went down to the main floor. The bulk of the chamber was taken up by a lavish sitting room furnished with comfortable-looking chairs, a couch, and what looked like a loveseat. Off to the immediate right was a kitchen. Opposite that on the far left was a well-stocked wet bar. A large picture window flanked by smaller ones looked out into space. The moon the station orbited dominated the view on the right while the gas planet could just be seen beyond the edge of the moon on the left. Separate bedrooms, one on each side of the sitting area, were just a tastefully done as the rest of the apartment.

Emerging from their chosen rooms, the pair continued scanning for surveillance devices, but came up empty. They could talk freely.

"So far, so good," Teelana said, sounding a touch disappointed.

"You expected this to be harder?" Cobra asked. He shrugged off the duster and dropped it across an armchair and dropped into a plush chair facing the windows.

Teelana walked over to the kitchen to get something to drink. "I expect we will have company at any time."

"A premonition?"

"A feeling."

They waited patiently for hours with no contact from Boss Nash. He had to know they had arrived. The time for the dinner date had not been set, so Cobra figured it would be whenever the boss decided. Rather than wander around the station seeing the sights and experiencing life in an open system, Cobra decided they should stay put. Without a scorecard, they could quickly get into trouble. With no backup support, that would be problematic. Besides, Cobra had a feeling that Boss Nash might prove a cordial host. Then again, a rattlesnake was a lovely creature – from a discreet distance.

Cobra dozed on the chair facing the panoramic view. Teelana had retired to her bedroom. Cobra suspected that she knew something, but decided not to say anything. Her senses were heightened thanks to her magical abilities. More than that, the other powers of the mind unlocked in her via Castle Grayskull's Pool of Power gave her an advantage over others. He had gotten a glimpse of that power when she had used it to heal injuries suffered in the battle with General Rongar's army on a planet in the unclaimed buffer zone between the Horde Empire and the Val-kyrie territory.

His ruminations broke off at the sound of the main hatch opening. A rattle of bottles. The squeak of a wheel. The maid service had ignored the lighted Do Not Disturb sign above the keycard slot.

"Hey, lady," Cobra called out, irritated. "The Do Not Disturb sign is lit for a reason."

A gruff voice answered him. "My boss wants a word with you."

Cobra turned his head to the right. A humanoid as round as he was short stood over by the kitchen, laser pistol out and pointing in Cobra's direction. The maid stood over by the closed hatch with her cleaning cart.

Without warning, blue/white energy balls soared across the room. One impacted the maid, slamming her against the hatch. The other struck the male square in the chest. The impact didn't knock him backward, but the powerful electric shock played havoc with his nervous system. Face screwed up in agony, mouth open in a soundless scream, the ruffian collapsed as soon as the magic missile dissipated.

While Teelana had been laying on her bed, sleeping was the furthest thing from her mind. She had been meditating. Immersed in the flows of magical energies, Teelana focused on the immediate environment looking for anything out of the ordinary. In a place like this, ordinary was more a state of mind. It reminded her of stories people had told her of Las Vegas on Earth. Magnify that by a thousand and you would have any station in the solar system. And then there was spaceport on Planet Wayfarer that was a world unto itself.

Her senses suddenly focused closer to home. Two people were approaching. One female. One male. Both stopped outside their suite. The female's fear radiated almost blindingly in Teelana's magic sight. The male had darker thoughts. Malevolent thoughts. Teelana sprang from the bed like a lithesome cat thanks to her physical training. The outer door was open and the pair coming inside when Teelana reached her bedroom door. After Cobra's pronouncement about the lighted sign, she fired off two magic missiles at the intruders.

Cobra pushed himself up out of the chair. "And _that's_ why the sign was on." He walked over to the goon while Teelana checked on the maid. He patted the man down for other weapons besides the one still clutched in his limp right hand. Cobra found none. He plucked the pistol out of the goon's hand, and pulled his own with his right hand. He glanced Teelana's direction. She nodded in return. The maid was recovering.

Teelana ushered the maid and cart out the door amid the woman's apologies for the intrusion. She claimed that she had had no choice because to the laser pistol trained on her. Teelana heaved a quiet sigh once the blubbering maid was gone. Evidently, the blubbering had gotten on her nerves.

The goon was coming around as Cobra donned his duster. "This how Nash welcomes people he invites to his domain?" Cobra said, not impressed.

The hired muscle stared at the maw of pistol aimed at him. "I don't work for Boss Nash," he spat.

"Well, in that case," Cobra replied, holstering his pistol and covering the goon with his confiscated laser, "take me to your leader."

Teelana scowled and rolled her eyes. _Couldn't resist it, could you?_ She sent telepathically. Cobra flashed her a quick grin and winked.

Boss Lazar paced his private suite in a building he owned on Nash Station. All eleven bosses owned buildings on one another's stations. By agreement, no one could start trouble on another boss's station without suffering repercussions. Since Cobra was not an employee of Nash's organization, Lazar could act with a like more latitude. He still had to be careful since the bounty hunter was on the station at Nash's invitation.

Lazar was in his early fifties, with graying hair, severe features, and a belly gone to pot where it had once been flat and toned in his youth. He had worked his way up the family ladder and inherited the business when his father was killed in a dispute with another boss. That had been during the final construction of the family stations. Before the detente had been agreed to by all twelve families.

Since that time, he and the other families had risen to even great heights of prosperity, though not without the occasion conflicts with each other, and unaffiliated organizations. Now, everyone was scrambling to be the family to boast having the man who took out Cardas in his employ. Lazar was determined to be that one.

"Where is Brant? He should have been here by now," Boss Lazar scowled angrily.

"Cobra isn't someone to take lightly," Dariand pointed out. He was Lazar's number one. His orders could be considered Lazar's orders. "I told you you needed to send someone with more tact. Brant has about a much tact as blunt force trauma.

The door chime rang. Boss Lazar Sighed. "That better be Brant with Cobra in tow. And he'd better have a good reason for being late."

The mountain of muscle closest to the door strode over and keyed the control panel. An instant after the hatch opened, a body hurtled through. Brant covered almost three meters before hitting the floor hard, rolled another few meters and finally came to a halt. A man dressed all in black sporting a goatee and an eyepatch covering his left eye. He was followed by a strikingly beautiful brunette dressed in silver and blue and wearing a long cape with the hood drawn up on top of her head.

Cobra dismantled Brant's weapon, casually tossing pieces in random directions. The power cell was tucked into a coat pocket. The pair leisurely strolled across the deep pile carpet and stopped before the boss's desk.

"Next time you want an audience with me, send a proper invitation," Cobra growled evenly. "You send a hired gun and I'll send him back in a ditty bag. And itty, bitty ditty bag." He let his one-eyed gaze travel about the room full of thugs.

The other hired guns were just shaking off their shock of seeing one of their own treated so roughly. Normally, that would earn one the same kind of treatment in spades. Th families did not take kindly to anyone challenging their authority. However, they were confronted with the dilemma of the challenge coming in the form of the duo who ended the reign of the head of the most ruthless gangster in history after late Boss Navarro. No one was very eager to enforce their boss's authority in his own house.

"Boss Lazar. Dariand," Cobra stated with cold indifference.

"Nash didn't tell us the circus was on station," Teelana added, her blue eyes radiating like chips of ice.

Lazar's frown turned to fury at the blatant insult. He pegged Cobra with a stare that would have turned a lesser man into a blubbering mass begging for forgiveness.

Cobra stifled a laugh. "She beat me by one second." Spotting a cigar box on the corner of the desk, he walked over and lifted the lid. Another calculated insult. He pulled one off the top and let the lid snap shut, and held the pilfered prize up. "Got a light?" Lazar whipped his left hand up and smacked the cigar out of Cobra's hand. _Guess not._ Cobra took another cigar from the box. Spotting several glasses on a silver tray filled each filled with an amber liquid and cubes of ice, Cobra bit off the end of his pilfered prize, and spit the wad into one of the drinks.

Teelana winced inwardly at the ruination of a perfectly good drink, but kept her face in an emotionless mask.

Cobra fished a lighter from a pants pocket, struck up a flame and held it to cigar tip. A few indrawn breaths, a small cloud of fragrant smoke, and Cobra was happily puffing away. Unconcerned for about the collection of hired muscle scattered about the room, Cobra dropped himself into a comfortable chair facing the desk. "So, you wanted an audience. Here I am. Talk."

Lazar took a deep breath to control his temper. This bounty hunter was acting cockier than usual. A bad sign. Especially since he had a powerful sorceress at his back. "I have been trying to contact you for days."

Cobra snorted. " _All_ of the bosses have. So what? All of sudden you have jobs for me now that I'm no longer on the Queen Mother's Most Wanted List? If you weren't currently the third most power family in the quadrant, I'd say kiss my ass. However, considering your status I will say slurp my butt."

Lazar spread his hands, struggling to contain his anger at the man's blatant disrespect "All I wanted was to talk."

"You have a funny way of issuing invitations," Teelana observed.

Dariand Spoke up. "We didn't think you would come."

Cobra blew a smoke ring at the ceiling. "Well, that's the first thought you got right. I don't work for any of you-" He stopped to think about that a moment. "Well, only for the right price. But I maintain my neutrality for a reason."

"You did us all a service going to Horde Prime's penal planet and ending Cardas once and for all," Boss Lazar said.

"I didn't do it for you," Cobra countered. "For _any_ of you."

Sneering, Dariand demanded, "Then what did you do it for?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," was all the explanation Cobra intended to give.

"We could always compel you to play ball. Wouldn't be the first time we've brought a bounty hunter into line," Dariand said, voice dripping with malice. "Just because you have a wi-"

Cobra interrupted, "Don't finish that word unless your life insurance is paid up."

Cobra's warning was punctuated by tendrils of blue magic fire curling around Teelana's hands. All the gunmen in the room took an involuntary step backward. Oh, they were brave enough breaking heads and other limbs when loan payments were late, or someone needed to be intimidated. When it comes to intangible things like real magic, they, like most beings, feared what they did not understand. Dariand saw the gathering magical power and wisely swallowed the rest of his statement.

"And why should I and the other bosses not try to add you to our respective stables of bounty hunters?" Lazar asked evenly.

"Well, adding the man who took out Cardas would be a feather in your hat, but I never took any of you clowns as being stupid enough to paint a bull's eye on your operations," Cobra explained at length. "Until now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lazar demand angrily.

"Ask Boss Navarro."

Boss Navarro. The unofficial Boss of Bosses. His operation was the most powerful of all the crime families. Cardas had been runner up. It could safely be said that Cardas learned all he knew from Navarro. However, there were some things that none of the other families would delve into. Navarro had no inhibitions whatsoever. He was brutal. Revenge killings were not limited to immediate family. Anyone who knew the crime boss's enemy was a legitimate target. And he regularly traded in the one area other families only dabbled in on occasion.

Slavery.

The Val-kyrie had a thing about slavery. They hated it with a passion known only to them. While the slave trade was a lucrative enterprise in the outer regions, it was a very, very dangerous occupation because when the warrior women went after slavers, no survivors were left in their wake.

Boss Navarro had a thriving slave trade boing in the outer rim near the only region of the galaxy left unexplored. He had scoffed at repeated warnings from the Val-kyrie to cease all slavery operations.

Ten years ago, Queen Mother Silvara decided that the crime families were overdue for a reminder as to why it was good business not to anger the warrior women. A single battlestar was dispatched to the Wayfarer system to carry out her order. Upon dropping out of hyperspace, a warning went out to Boss Navarro's operations to the effect that anyone in his family's employ had one local solar day to evacuate all businesses including the family space station.

Within the first hour, a mass exodus was observed from all holdings belonging to Boss Navarro. At the appointed time, the battlestar moved in. The moment the warship got within range of the space station, its commander opened fire with the ten primary cannons. Within minutes, the station was reduced to an expanding cloud of debris when the power core breached.

Unknown to anyone at the time, a strike team had been assembled on a strictly volunteer basis to go to the planet and burn Navarro's empire to the ground. The reason for the volunteers was because all enforcers remaining on the boss's holding, all family and relatives and anyone foolish enough to remain would be killed. This was one of those rare occasions when the warrior women made war on women and children, and the volunteers had to be able to live with those acts for the rest of their lives. In this case, when the call went out to the ground forces assigned to the battlestar for volunteers, the major in charge of the operation had so many that she had to pick and choose who would go and who would stay behind.

At the exact moment the battlestar opened fire on the space station, the strike force annihilated all planetary holdings of Boss Navarro. The boss himself lived long enough to see his empire reduced to rubble, all family executed and all employees foolish enough not to abandon him killed on sight. Navarro was never found, but speculation was that he had been left alive but incapacitated in his mansion when a powerful explosion turned it into a smoking crater. Other theories say he was quite dead when the mansion was razed to the ground, but it hardly mattered either way. The Navarro Empire died in hellfire in a matter of minutes at the command of the Queen Mother. The other families were reminded that they remained in existence at the whim of the warrior women. And, to a lesser extent, by the whim of Horde Prime; who occasion had cause to do business with the various families.

To this day, the moon where the Navarro family station orbited remained barren. All the areas where the mansion and business holdings had been located in Wayfarer City still bore the scars of that day. A vivid reminder to all comers the virtues of not angering the Val-kyrie.

Boss Lazar paled at the mention of the former Boss of Bosses. When Cardas assumed the top spot after Navarro was destroyed, he remained a brutal head of his operation, but he knew where to line was to avoid Navarro's fate. However, he crossed Horde Prime one time too many and was send to the infamous penal planet Hel where he would ultimately meet his end at the hands of an infiltration force from Earth. While that little bit of information was strictly suppressed, other details about how Cardas had been able to continue directing his empire until Cobra went in and supposedly ended his reign had been embellished enough to be believable.

Cobra pushed himself up out of the chair and wandered around the room. "While I would never take undue advantage of my new association with the Queen Mother, you never know what can happen. You might get into one of those armored tanks of an aircar the families like so much on the planet and it suddenly blows up." He looked pointedly at the wall opposite from the desk. "Or you might be riding in your private turbolift and suddenly the gravity goes haywire, it plummets to the bottom and you get turned into jelly." He strolled around to bank of windows where he drew one of the expensive drapes aside. "Or you could be just looking out the window at all you survey."

To punctuate his remark, a small spider webbed hole suddenly appeared in the tall pane. Something smacked into the picture six inches to the right of Lazar's head. The boss's head snapped around to his left to stare at the neat little hole in the glass and picture.

Dariand was unimpressed. "We will not be intimidated by the likes of you."

"That's easy for you to say!" Lazar snapped. "You're not the one he's gunning for."

Cobra smiled. He had them right where he wanted them. If this worked out, the families would stop bothering him. He hoped. "Relax, Lazar. If I was gunning for you, you wouldn't be standing there bitchin' about it."

"If something happens to him, it would fall to me to avenge him," Dariand declared, a dangerous tone in his voice.

Cobra was steadily walking toward the door. He stopped a handful of steps away from it and turned back.

It was Teelana who answered first. "What makes you think you would live long enough to try?" Her voice was quiet, almost conversational, but it sent shivers up and down spines all around the room. Even Cobra felt it.

"Just remember, Lazar," Cobra warned, his voice like that of death itself, "if anything happens to us-" he gestured toward the picture with the butt of his cigar "-fifteen minutes later, _that's_ you."

He and Teelana swept out of the room without interference. When they were in the turbolift heading for the ground floor, Cobra commented idlily," That was fun."

Teelana turned her head just enough to regard him with open skepticism. "You and I need to talk about our respective definitions of 'fun.'"

48


	9. Ch 7

Seven

Boss Nash Family Space Station

Wayfarer Star System

11 August 2017

Rather than take one of Lazar's aircars back to the hotel and restaurant, Cobra and Teelana elected to walk. The distance was not that far. Neither of them had ever visited an open station like this, so they took advantage of the opportunity.

They walked past shops peddling wares from across half the galaxy. There were fabrics of a type Teelana had never seen before, and secretly she wanted to design a few outfits from them. Other shops contained statuettes, rugs, paintings and anything else one could think of.

Smells of exotic foods from dozens of planets set their stomachs to growling. They had eaten light on the ship because of the invitation to dine with Boss Nash. Now, however, they couldn't pass up a few stalls catering to humanoid pallets. Cobra deferred to Teelana's experience in observing of cultures, so she picked out items worth trying. The pair moved from one open stall to the next, sampling interesting dishes and picking out those either wanted added the ship's stores. At the end of the street, a sizeable array of foods mixed with a few spices had been selected and assembled into a pack to be delivery to the _Ladyhawke_ whenever they liked. Cobra paid for the delivery, contacted Mirriam to be ready for the pack via wrist comm, then headed off for the hotel and casino for their impending appointment with the station's owner.

Along the way, they discussed cooking up the foodstuffs they just purchased. While Teelana's cooking abilities constituted using magic – when she chose to eat because the magical energies sustained her – she had the idea of seeing what Cobra could do with the items. Having sampled some of his better dishes, Teelana could just imagine what he would do with the more exotic meats and vegetables from the market. Cobra, of course didn't see it that way since there were no recipe books to be found anywhere among the open stalls. Her answer, of course, was simple trial and error. Which was why she had insisted on the quantities purchased. Enough to fill a standard shipping crate in all.

Cobra sighed and let the matter drop as they mounted the steps to the hotel and casino and strode into the brightly lit lobby. Instead of heading for the bank of lifts off to the left past the reception counter, they walked right toward the corridor leaded back into the casino and restaurant area. The short corridor opened into a massive multi-level chamber packed with people, tables and machines. The upper levels contained the tables where matches were fought for high stakes. Areas could also be reserved for private games regardless of the stakes. While business discussions traditionally went on over rounds of golf on Earth, out here where the legal and not-so-legal business dealings took place, games of chance were the chosen fields of battle.

After the outer lobby, this chamber was like walking into a massive cave lit by torches in comparison. The pair threaded their way aimlessly among the tables, observing the action. Cheers and jeers accompanied successful turns. Gripes, groans, and shouts of outrage marked the inevitable end to pushing one's luck too far. There was even a rare spectacle of security forcibly removing beings who were broke, but making a scene of not leaving.

Not matter where these places exist in the galaxy, people always behave the same in gaming houses, Cobra thought wryly.

Teelana nodded toward the signs pointing the way to the restaurant further back, and they made their way toward the entrance at a leisurely place. The maître d' eyed the pair with barely disguised suspicion. His manner in asking and answering Cobra's questions gave Teelana the distinct impression that they were not dressed for a night in the restaurant, much less worthy of simply getting through the door. As with the customs officer, Cobra simply mentioning the invite by Boss Nash ended, after a brief check to confirm the outlandish story, with a distinctly paler maître d' handing them off to a waitress to escort them to a table. Cobra didn't bother to hide a smug look as he and Teelana were escorted away.

Teelana knew he didn't care for the underworld types, but with Boss Nash being almost respectable by Val-kyrie standards, she admitted that a loose association with the man did have a few perks. As the Sorceress of Grayskull, she had reservations about the perks. In her guise as a bounty hunter's companion, however, she enjoyed seeing snobby people who thought they were superior to everyone put in their place when confronted with others who were a few rungs higher up in the pecking order. She would never admit that to anyone, especially to Cobra.

The waitress gestured to a booth with a half-moon bench seat and table, facing the well-stocked bar twenty meters away. They were seated in an island of such booths in the center of the room. Each booth or table was lit with soft light while everywhere else was in twilight.

Glasses of ice water were left for them. The waitress departed with the menus, as they were awaiting their audience with Boss Nash. Cobra supposed someone must have told her.

Cobra idly observed the surroundings, particularly the other patrons. Live plants separated their booth from the others with their colorful décor, making it harder for someone to peek in from the booth behind theirs. The other booth islands were arranged in the same manner, while the sections of tables were divided up by planters containing small trees, bushes and other more exotic plants. Soft music from a culture Teelana couldn't even begin to guess the identity of issued from hidden speakers a volume high enough to be heard, but not so high as to intrude on local conversation.

Voices drifted across from the other side of the planter. Familiar ones.

"Stop rubbing your chest," a female voice said, chastising.

"It aches," her male companion groused.

"It is supposed to. The idea is that when you get hit with one of those weapons, it should serve as inducement to avoid it in the future."

"He enjoyed that too much."

"If it is any consolation, you were not his first choice. You simply got in the way."

Cobra could picture the woman's slight smile at that revelation. "Nice shot," he said through the plants. "Eight hundred yards?"

A pause, then, "Closer to a thousand. I love that weapon system."

Shaking his head, Cobra said to Teelana out the corner of his mouth, "He'd make love to that rifle, if he could."

Unfortunately, Teelana had been taking a sip from her glass that exact moment. She choked on her laughter and almost blew water out of her nose. "Had to wait until I took a sip," she said. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Best time for it."

"I heard that," Corporal Frost said.

"I don't hear a denial forthcoming," Cobra shot back lightly.

Princess Anyssa interjected, "That's because I will call him on any lie he tries to tell."

Teelana's attention was drawn off to the side. "Company inbound on the right."

Cobra casually looked in that direction. "Show time. You kids stay out of trouble."

Frost got in a parting shot before the escorts arrived. "Hello Pot? It's the Kettle calling."

Cobra sized up the pair weaving their way across the room toward his table. Cookie cutter hired muscle. They almost looked like a pair of bookends. All brawn, little brains and totally loyal to their current employer. The suits these two wore probably cost more that Cobra made in a year. Thanks to a crash course in covert operations, the moment the pair arrived in the pool of light Cobra spotted the alterations designed to conceal weapons under their left arms. It was a respectable establishment, after all. Can't have the hired muscle walking around openly displaying weapons.

The one on the right said, "The boss will see you now." He gestured in the direction they had come from. It was clear that Cobra and Teelana were to precede them.

Teelana and Cobra slid out of the booth and took a circuitous route around to the doors to what turned out to be a private dining room. If the outer room spoke to the riches of the place, the private room they entered left no doubt. Like the rest of the establishment, the dining room was tastefully decorated. The most striking feature was the thick panes of transparent material creating the illusion of dining in space. The windows afforded a look at the outer hull of the station beside the stunning view of local space.

The chamber measured about twenty meters square with an extensive bar along the left wall, an area of small, round tables in front of it and an adjoining wood dance floor. Off to the right was a carpeted area complete with two couches, end tables and lamps arranged in an L formation where people could enjoy the view – or talk business.

A table a lot smaller than Cobra expected sat out in the observation area. A nice tablecloth adorned the table complete with fine china and silverware that probably cost a small fortune. The highbacked armchairs appeared to be antiques. The candleholders were a nice touch.

A lone man stood beyond the table gazing out the window. As Cobra approached, he could see the man's reflection. Boss Nash stood about five feet ten, slim build with a slight bulge in the belly and only a slight touch of gray at the temples. Despite being close to fifty years old, he looked at least a few years younger. The clothes were as conservative as the décor. His eyes shifted to the pair crossing the floor. Smiling, he turned around and began clapping.

Cobra and Teelana glanced at one another. Not the reception they were expecting. "Um, about our first meeting-"

"Aww, forget it," Boss Nash said, waving a dismissive hand. "You didn't know me. I didn't know you. Truth is, I would have been suspicious if you had acted any other way."

Cobra glanced behind them at the bodyguards posted to either side of the entrance. The walking mounds of muscle were nowhere to be seen. The guards were more of the same in expensive suits with concealed weapons, consciously ignoring what was going on while paying attention to everything going on. He returned his attention to Boss Nash. "To what do we owe the honor of what is likely to be a fabulous meal?"

"Why, doing us all the service of getting rid of a rabid animal that was long overdue for being put down." Nash gestured for the pair to seat themselves.

Teelana dropped the hood and lifted it over her head. A servant materialized from out of nowhere to take the cape and Cobra's duster. Cobra was self-conscious of the holstered weapon under his left arm, but Nash didn't bat an eye at it. The man had guts, Cobra thought as he pulled out a chair for Teelana. Cobra and Nash sat after Teelana was settled.

They were situated equidistant around a circular table. A nice intimate setting for a dinner among businessmen. No business would be discussed until after dinner, a full seven course meal with all the trimmings. Cobra couldn't remember most of the names for the dishes, but he enjoyed many of them. Some did not agree with him, though; anything more than a mild spice would cause him to break out in a cold sweat. He and sweet-and-sour absolutely did not get along. Teelana had her favorites. Some of them would have burned the hair off the tops of Cobra's feet.

After a brief dessert, the group retreated to the couches to talk business. Cobra and Nash took the corner seats while Teelana took the other end of Cobra's couch. While the couches only seated two and were more the size of a loveseat, Teelana managed to keep a professional gap between herself and Cobra. She kept an eye on the bodyguards by the door and the servants clearing the table.

"So, what do you say we get the obvious stuff out of the way first," Cobra stated.

Nash said, bluntly, "You're not the real bounty hunter." While his voice travelled clear across to Teelana, the bodyguards would be none the wiser.

Cobra and Teelana shared a knowing look. "Well, it's tough to get any more obvious than that."

"If I had to guess, I would say you are a disinterested third party using the bounty hunter as a convenient cover," Nash mused.

"Go on," Cobra prompted.

Staring into his glass and absently swirling the ice in the amber liquid, Nash continued, "I suppose the real question is, 'can we trust each other?'"

Cobra smiled. "No doubt about it. That's a difficult one. Guess you'll just have to do what you've always done. Examine all the evidence, weigh the options and make up your own damn mind as to whether we can continue doing business."

"Of all the bosses, the Queen Mother herself said you were almost respectable, as far as smugglers go," Teelana said quietly. "Didn't seem to stop you from joining the other vultures in dismantling Cardas' empire."

"Smuggle? Yes, I smuggle. Exotic food. Perishable goods. I sometimes even smuggle people out of harm's way. My only rule is no weapons, drugs, or slaves," Nash responded. "I, and several other bosses with similar interests, only took over his legitimate businesses. The vultures, as you call them, are welcome to the rest." Nash looked thoughtful for a moment. "The Queen Mother really called me 'almost respectable?' High praise coming from her."

"You've met her?" Cobra asked.

"Not in person, but we have spoken over secure comm channels. Quite a woman. Never have been able to resist a request from her." He set his drink down on a coaster on the glass-topped coffee table, leaned back and crossed one leg over the other. "I presume you are authorized to speak for whomever you work for?"

"Within reason," Cobra confirmed.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"For the moment, nothing. We are here to scope out the situation and see if there was the possibility of conducting business on occasion," Cobra explained.

Nash nodded. It made sense, but he needed to know that Cobra and the people he represented could deliver on any promises. "I will need something a little more concrete then personal assurances. No offense, but the word of the Queen Mother carries more weight with me even though you are clearly being supported by her government, if indirectly."

Cracking a half-smile, Cobra activated the wrist comp strapped to his right arm. "Mirriam. How goes things?"

"I am wonderful. The passengers are complaining about being left behind. And the intruders don't seem to be getting the message to leave me alone," the AI responded.

Teelana raised her left eyebrow. Cobra asked, "What's the body count so far?"

"Sixteen." There was the unmistakable sound of a sudden burst of an electrical discharge. "Make that seventeen," Mirriam amended. "I'll say this for them; they clean up after themselves. No one from dock security has shown up yet."

"Well, keep them at bay. Oh, there's going be a crate of foodstuffs delivered at any time. See to it that there are no unauthorized additions." When Mirriam confirmed that she had already received notice of the impending delivery, Cobra continued, "Send the prearranged signal to the Val-kyrie High Command. The op is a go."

"Confirmed," Mirriam acknowledged and closed the channel.

Leaning forward, Cobra explained, "You have a ship currently making a freight run that has a limited life. Perishable goods of an exotic nature, I believe. The shortest route to make it on time requires cutting across a small corner of Val-kyrie space. Now, your transport could go around, but that would take too much time. So, that signal my ship's AI is sending is a prearranged message to allow your ship to cut across their space after being briefly stopped for inspection by the battlestar patrolling that sector. Shouldn't last more than an hour at most. Our proof that we can back up what we say."

Nash pushed himself up from the couch and crossed the room to the bar. Walking around behind the bar, he activated a comm panel set in its surface. His discussion lasted no more than two minutes before he returned to the couch. He picked up he drink, took a sip and said, "The transport will continue as scheduled. In fact, it should be crossing the border in just a few minutes. They had sighted a battlestar in the area, so if your proposal is good, we'll know in short order."

He looked Teelana over with an appraising eye. "Weren't you a redhead that last time we met?"

Teelana smiled sweetly. "Woman's prerogative. I'm sure you understand."

Nash sighed, "Don't I know it." He was married to a loving wife and had one daughter who would likely grow up into a spitting image of her mother.

They talked about other odds and ends for the next thirty minutes. While other bosses went as grandiose as possible, flaunting their wealth in a constant game of one-upmanship, Boss Nash went more for the low-key approach he called 'stylish with class.' Cobra had to admit that of what little of the places he had seen on the station, Nash's businesses were the easiest on the eyes. Lazar's Hotel, on the other hand, fairly screamed how loaded he was with money to burn.

Cobra and Teelana filled Nash in on their impromptu visit to Boss Lazar's hotel. Nash chuckled periodically during the recitation, particularly at the point when the sniper's bullet punched through the window. He knew enough not to ask about how Cobra about the timing of such an event, or how he knew another boss might press the bounty hunter for an audience.

"Lazar isn't the only one who would like you as a part of his stable. Others, however, would rather make a name for themselves. The man – or woman – who took out the man who took out Cardas. Make for a great bullet point on a resume," Nash said, pointedly.

"Would any of them try something on a station?" Teelana asked. She had a peculiar look on her face that concerned Cobra. It was almost a look of restrained anticipation.

"Only those not associated with a major outfit. Everyone knows not to start something on a boss's station without informing the boss first. Lazar took a risk with his 'invite' to you, but you handled it about how I would have expected. The freelance outfits, however, are the ones to watch out for."

Cobra nodded. "I wondered why there was no weapons check at the customs entry." If people behaved themselves, the local authorities would leave you alone. Out in space away from the stations and the planet, however, anything goes. He figured someone would try something when they left the station. _Ladyhawke_ was more than a match for anything the bosses could field; it was what the families had hidden that worried him and the Val-kyrie. The stash of military gear Cardas had accumulated on the penal planet Hel was a wakeup call for anyone who was paying attention.

The Val-kyrie were being careful not to release too much too soon. Certain members in the Horde Empire would see through the ruse instantly, but no one would be willing to admit that one of their commanders would willingly work with an animal like Cardas; even if it had been said commander's second in command.

"As for the freelancers," Cobra continued, "we have that covered."

"Provided the families aren't packing more advanced weaponry that no one knows about," Teelana added.

Nash debated what to reveal. Everyone suspected the crime families of having military grade hardware. If you were willing to pay the price, one could get whatever one desired. Proving that the families possessed military hardware, however, was something else. Surplus obsolete ships were easy to find. Most privateers used those kinds of ships for their livelihood. Criminal organizations used them for their legitimate and no-so-legitimate operations. All surplus military vessels had the high value equipment -weapons, electronics, etc. -removed and replaced with their civilian equivalents. The more industrious owners found ways to modify and upgrade those systems, but the best way to get the edge on the competition was to hook up with an outfit that could get you the good stuff. That meant getting into bed with a crime family.

"There are rumors of the families possessing things the Horde and the Val-kyrie would rather we didn't have, of course," Nash said. "All I will say is that the current top family is there for a reason. If you saw anything like what the unconfirmed reports about the penal planet op seem to indicate, then you should already know the answer to your question. Let your imagination run wild and you will likely be on the low end of the vision."

That didn't make either of them comfortable. While neither the Horde or the Val-kyrie would feel threatened by that, small operations would be vulnerable to strong-arm tactics. It also meant that Guardian Command would have to be careful about interactions with the crime families. Cobra already suspected as much, but Nash's subtle hint meant they would have to be extra careful in their operations. One wrong move could spark a full-scale war with one or more families.

Cobra smiled. "We'll just have to tread carefully."

The comm chirped from the counter. Nash rose and walked across the room. He consulted with the caller for a minute, listening more than talking, closed the channel and returned to his guests. Cobra and Teelana got up from the couch as the boss approached.

"Well, it appears that you are as good as your word," Nash said, breaking into a warm smile he meant. "The transport was stopped briefly for a safety inspection, after which, it was allowed to continue on its way." He stuck out his right hand. Cobra took it and wasn't surprised by the firmness of the man's grip. "I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"Indeed," Cobra agreed.

"So, what do you want from me?" Nash asked when they broke the handshake.

Cobra glanced to Teelana. Her nod was barely perceptible. "Have your people kept eyes and ears open in and around the Etherian star system."

Nash whistled. "Hordak's domain. Organizations avoid that system like the plague. And with good reason. When do you need the information?"

"We'll contact you," Cobra assured Nash. "Nothing will be in motion for about fourteen days, or so."

Nash nodded. "Done, though I'm not sure how helpful it will be."

"Every little bit counts. Sometimes people will say things to a freighter captain that they won't say to someone they think might be a spy for Hordak," Teelana pointed out.

"Done," Boss Nash agreed.

Cobra's comm buzzed. "Yes, Mirriam."

"Your package is safely stowed in the aft cargo hold," the AI reported. "And the body count is now up to twenty-three." A pause, then: "Make that twenty-four. Looks like they are giving up trying to access my airlock. Took them long enough to get the point. I hope the two of you are coming back soon. I'm getting lonely being parked among all these stupid ships."

"We will be back soon. You'll survive," Cobra answered, sounding like a parent scolding a child. He closed the channel before the AI could comment. "The Val-kyrie idea of a sick joke," he elaborated at Boss Nash's inquiring look. "Mirriam is a sentient AI with an itchy trigger finger."

"Don't forget the personality of your average chauvinistic Val-kyrie of old," Teelana added.

It wasn't a state secret that Queen Mother Silvara had been working to change her people's perceptions of outsiders. Particularly males. An AI exhibiting those traits was a stretch of the imagination.

"You have your hands full with that one, eh?" Nash asked, grinning.

"You have no idea," Cobra said.

Nash walked them to the doors, where they parted company.

They had just accomplished the mission of making a new friend. Put the crime bosses on notice that angering Cobra was playing with fire. Word of the repeated failures to access Cobra's new starship would be spreading like wildfire. All they needed to do now was get out of the star system alive.

Cobra was confident they could do that with ease. Mirriam's firepower was greater than anything anyone currently roaming the sector was known to possess. Reigning in the bloodthirsty AI was another matter.

Either way, Cobra's idea of fun was vastly different from Teelana's.

55


	10. Ch 8

Eight

White House Oval Office

United States, Earth

12 August 2017

General Hammond, fresh from his return to Earth aboard the _Eternia_ , had barely set foot on base in Area 51 when he was directed to board a waiting aircraft that was to convey him to Langley. From there, the general had been ushered into a waiting staff car for the trip to Washington, D.C.

Hammond had no idea what the meeting could be about. He was certain that he wasn't going to be relieved of command for leaving the planet. While his presence with his people had not been necessary at the time, it had proven fruitful to be on scene when the brief Val-kyrie civil war broke out. Other than personally congratulating Hammond for the good work his people had done on the penal planet and helping the Queen Mother, he was at a loss to explain the sudden meeting.

The general was conducted swiftly through the White House to the reception area outside the oval office. His wait was not long before the secretary's phone buzzed. She rose, walked around the desk and opened the door for the general.

"Go right in, general," the secretary said sweetly.

The door closed softy behind him. Hammond surveyed the room. It was just like he had seen in all the television shows and movies. The only mementos in the room of each sitting president decorated the table at the window behind the desk.

President Alexander stood at those windows gazing outside. Standing just shy of six feet, the president cut an imposing figure. Despite the stresses of the job, he did not look like a man in his late fifties. He still retained the lean pilot physique he had during his military service as an Apache helicopter pilot. Alexander turned from the window and smiled.

"Eugene. Welcome home." He gestured to the couches. "Sorry about the rush to get you here. Colonel Simmons will have to hold the fort a while longer."

"No problem, sir," Hammond responded, shaking the president's hand.

When they were settled on the couches, Alexander got right to the point. "You certainly had some adventures." He had been up all night reading the reports on the operation to free He-man and his allies from the Horde penal planet. The operation to rescue Cobretti and the Sorceress when they were under siege by a powerful Horde force on an unclaimed planet in an undeclared neutral zone between the Horde Empire and Val-kyrie space. And then there was the adventure on the home world of the warrior women.

"About normal for my people, I'm afraid," Hammond replied.

"A good job, nonetheless. Looks like we have a very powerful ally in these Val-kyrie."

"The Queen Mother has her hands full rebuilding after the rebellion among her senior officers and senators. They wouldn't be able to defend their territory and Earth, if that's what you are thinking."

The president nodded. "I was, but realize they have their own problems. I believe your report mentioned a computer scenario where both the Val-kyrie and Horde fleets engaged in an all-out battle."

Hammond nodded. "Yes. The result was both being crippled for a decade or two. Stalemate."

"If you are wondering if your job is in jeopardy, let me assure you that it isn't," the president said, answering Hammond's obvious question.

"I was looking forward to retiring when the Horde dropped in for a visit two years ago. Thanks to my people, I have been dropping weight, getting more fit, and the trip off world has reawakened my interest in other cultures."

"Well, for the moment, we need to concentrate on ours. World President Roshenko is convening the equivalent of our Armed Services Committee to review the status of the Guardian battlesuits and the best way to employ them in the defense of our world," President Alexander said, grimly. He did not hide his detest for the world president.

It was no secret that Roshenko wanted the weapons for himself. Russia had long advocated for Sonya Boradni to be returned with Hawk to defend the Motherland. Great Britain and Germany stood firm with the United States in allowing Jeromy Ironwood and Brad Johnson to remain in Guardian Command with their respective suits. No one truly understood that the battlesuits belonged to themselves because of the sentient AIs in each of them. While they had only limited mobility without the guidance of an operator, the AIs still had to be treated like individuals. Now, President Roshenko was making another overt bid to control the use of these potent weapons of war.

President Alexander continued, "A firm date for the conference has not been set, as yet; however, once it is, someone will have to go before the committee and answer on behalf of your command."

Hammond frowned. He didn't like having to take time away from their operations to play these political games. "And you want me to go before the committee?" It made sense, since he was the commanding officer.

The president shook his head. "According to your report, the guardians elected one of their own to be their commander. I want Adrian Cobretti to answer on behalf of the Guardians."

Hammond couldn't completely disguise his shock. "Sir, you realize that because of his exposure to the Horde mind sifter, Adrian is more eccentric than usual. While he will be an able commander for the group, he might not be the best choice to face the committee."

"I disagree, Gene. Politics gives him the same kind of bowel movements that they give you. If anyone can convince the committee to leave the battlesuits where they are, it's him. Bring whomever you like, but Adrian must be the one to represent the Guardians' interests."

Sensing that he was not going to win this argument, Hammond sighed. "As you wish, Mister President."

Area 51

2200 hours

Everything was in readiness to receive the _Ladyhawke_ in the massive underground hangar under the north end of the runway. The hangar doors were open and a large plate painted to resemble the overrun section had been lifted into place.

All activity among the structures on the west side of the base, the only such evidence above ground, had been suspended for the night. _Eternia_ and a Val-kyrie scout ship were already parked on similar platforms underground. Emergency crews were standing by just in case they were needed.

The appointed time had come and gone, and there was still no signal. Colonel Simmons was growing impatient. It was a Saturday night. He could have been down in Las Vegas enjoying the weekend away from the base, but no, he was standing in the command center awaiting the arrival of a very advanced starship under the command of a rather eccentric crew.

"Anything?" Simmons demanded from the duty sergeant for the ninth time in the past few minutes.

"Still nothing, sir."

"Markson warned me Cobretti had a flare for the dramatic," Simmons groused.

"If he was going to be dramatic, he would have arrived in the middle of the day, and come in from the south directly over the city," a voice pointed out from behind him.

Simmons turned to regard the R&D division chief with barely contained disdain. Doctor Nicholas 'Nick' Jackson had snuck up on the colonel once again. "I don't know why he has to park that ship down here when the moon base is better equipped to accommodate it."

"Have you already forgotten the Queen Mother's conditions for use of the new starship? Only Adrian and the Sorceress are allowed even to board the ship. There are plenty of scientists up on the moon who would love to examine it up close," Nick pointed out. "Access to it cannot be strictly controlled up there. So, it has to be kept down here." He turned and left the command center without another word.

Nick took an electric cart and made his way to the hangar area in short order. He joined Gabriel Burns, Captain Majourny, Colonel Markson and a small group of other spectators awaiting the arrival of the _Ladyhawke_. Some people in the crew had already seen the starship before it left Val-kyre. Everyone was hoping to get an up-close look at the new acquisition despite the restrictions.

Colonel Markson checked his watch. "They're fifteen minutes late."

"Relax, colonel," Anyssa said. "Re-entering the atmosphere under sensor cloak is easy. It's not so easy when the other system is engaged."

While the full capabilities of the starship had not been disclosed, suspicions ran high as to what technologies had been incorporated into it. Sensor cloaks were standard equipment for all Val-kyrie starships from battlestars down to scout ships. Scout ships were the only ones with the addition of an invisibility cloaking device. Since Adrian chose to return at night, an invisibility cloak was ruled out.

The duty sergeant called over the intercom," We're getting a signal. Text only. It reads 'standby.'" Another few minutes passed before the next announcement. "New message. 'Ready for a letdown.' I guess they are in position."

Smiling, Gabe ordered the deck officer to lower the platform.

Several metal _thunks_ echoed throughout the hangar. Everyone watched as the massive pistons slowly retracted into the floor. Lighting in the bay was minimal so that it did not give away the presence of anything more than the surface structures. However, that meant leaving the overhead doors open until the platform touched down on the floor because – there was nothing sitting on the reinforced metal plate.

The overhead doors rolled shut as the platform was moved by other hydraulic pistons out of the way. There was a central east/west thoroughfare to transfer platforms around for various reasons. A line of open bays ran the length of this aisle to the north and south. Currently, only the _Eternia_ and Anyssa's scout ship were parked in the immediate bays on the south side, facing in the same direction so that once they were lifted into place the starships would be lined up to roll down the runway.

The recently lowered platform was being pushed back into the immediate bay north of the runway's end. There was no way to rotate the platforms underground. The mechanics of such a system often employed in railway hubs to turn engines around was unfeasible when scaled up to starships the size of the _Eternia_ and the _Ladyhawke_. So, all ships had to be prepositioned prior to being lowered into the underground hangar.

Once the platform was locked down, metal grates slid out of hidden recesses and popped up into position to cover the tracks so that it safe to personnel to move around. The group cautiously approached the apparently empty platform.

"The weight sensors register an extremely heavy mass sitting on the platform," Gabe said, after a brief consultation with the deck officer. "So, something has landed."

"They're just being dramatic, as usual," Colonel Markson said.

As if he had been overheard -which was likely- the air over the vacant platform began shimmering. The arrow-like hull of the _Ladyhawke_ gradually took shape. Those who hadn't seen the starship before gasped in awe at the sight of such a sleek and powerful-looking craft.

The white section along the centerline forward of the front landing struts snapped inward and split apart along the long axis. The loading platform began its descent to the floor. Two armored figures, male and female, stood upon it. The male operated the platform controls. As it neared the floor, a ramp automatically unfolded. Adrian and the Sorceress opened their helmets, pieces falling away to be stored somewhere under the collar sections of the suits, and walked off the platform.

"That's a mighty fine piece of technology you're brought us," Nick said, beaming at the sight of the starship.

"And that's as close as you or anyone else is going to get per the Queen Mother," Adrian replied. "Okay, Miriam, close her up."

"As you wish," the AI responded.

The platform retracted into the forward cargo hold and white hatch covers closed sealing the ship.

Gabe frowned. "You can't even give us a teaser?"

"No," the Sorceress answered. "However, I do have a consolation prize for you. Once I speak to General Hammond, of course."

"Speaking of whom," Adrian added, "where is our fearless leader?"

"Washington, D.C. meeting with President Alexander," Captain Majourny supplied. "He should be back early tomorrow morning. He will probably call for a debrief Monday morning."

"Oh, good. Time to relax and sleep in," Adrian smiled.

Jo-jo had designs on planning the dinner date Adrian and the Sorceress had agreed upon before leaving on the mission to the penal planet. It had been their way of having something to come back alive to. Jo-jo secretly planned to make it memorable, if she had anything to do with it.

Nick pulled up in a heavy duty electric cart designed to take the weight of two battlesuits in combat mode. The pair climbed in back while Gabe slid into the front next to Nick. After a stern reminder that the _Ladyhawke_ was off limits, the group set out for the main underground facilities at the west end of the base.

There were two tunnels accessible from the hangar. A large tunnel on the left allowed for moving bulk supplies and heavy equipment between the maintenance and storage bays under the mountain range at the west end of the base and the vast underground hangar area. Nick aimed for the smaller tunnel on the right that was for foot traffic and motorized carts. Both were well-lighted as compared to the dank dungeon-like feel of the hangar despite the powerful lights strewn throughout it.

Adrian's mind flashed back to the final episode of an old tv series titled _Kolchak: The Night Stalker_. The series' main character, Carl Kolchak, is seen several times driving an electric cart down a corridor much like the one they were currently traveling in. The irony was not lost on Adrian. In the past six months, he had seen and experienced things the likes of which Carl couldn't even imagine in his wildest dreams.

Nick drove through a hub of intersecting tunnels and continued heading west. Another shorter tunnel deposited them in the main maintenance bay. Although it was a fraction of the size of the hangar bays, it was still impressive. At the south end of the chamber stood four armor battlesuits, each standing between twelve and fifteen feet in height. Gatling Arm. Hawk. Blitzkrieg. Claw. The cart stopped a short distance away and everyone climbed out.

As they approached, Adrian and the Sorceress converted their suits from the power armor combat form into the full-sized battle form. The pair walked over to the west end of the line where there were two open spots next to recharge stations. Technicians waited until the suits were backed into place and the legs locked before unrolling thick cables to connect to specific ports in the back. One was an outside power source to supplement the regenerating capacitors the battlesuits were equipped with; the others hooked up monitoring and diagnostic test computers to keep track of the wear and tear of each suit's systems. Wheeled ladders were pushed up to the front as the chest and abdomen of Falcon and War Wing opened. Their operators climbed out and stepped down to the ground, the suits sealing themselves up again and promptly powering down.

Gabe and Nick stood at the hexagonal shaped computer station set up off to the side. Each side had an array of computers dedicated to a specific suit. Gabe and Nick watched as the banks set up for Falcon and War Wing came online and showed as functioning normally. While the stations the suits were plugged into were generic rather than dedicated, the server hub for the computer stations contained programs that evaluated the incoming data and routed it to the correct station which was dedicated to a specific suit. The arrangement would make life easier on the technicians and operators so that they did not have to memorize a specific station to plug in to every time.

"Kinda dead around here for a Saturday night," Adrian commented.

"The only downtime we get around here is when you people are away," Nick said, absently.

"Shit, that's cold."

"It's all right, Adrian," Sorceress replied. "At least we get out more than they do. We have more fun."

"Now _that_ was cold," Gabe said. After making sure all connections were secure, the four of them walked away in the direction of the office spaces and living quarters situated in the northern sector. "So, I understand that the suits can now speak to us.

Sorceress arched an eyebrow. "They always could speak to us. Well, their operators, anyway."

Nick explained: "Anyssa brought back the specs on the comm gear we will need for them to speak to us."

Gabe slapped his hands together, rubbing them expectantly. "I can't wait to start communicating with them in a more efficient manner."

"Be careful that you wish for, Gabe," Adrian cautioned.

The portly black man frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"If their operators are eccentric-" Sorceress supplied, glancing in Adrian's direction, "some more than others- how eccentric do you think the artificial intelligences are likely to be?"

"Oh, lord," Gabe sighed.

Nick merely snickered. He remembered all the troubles they had initially trying to examine the battlesuits in the beginning. He knew the AIs would remember all too well.

Paybacks, as they say, are indeed a bitch.

61


	11. Ch 9

Nine

Guardian Command

Area 51, Nevada

United States, Earth

14 August 2017

The conference room screen was split into two sections. The right side displayed a view of the _Ladyhawke_ 's flight deck. The left side showed the environment outside the starship, the view of the docking port receding as Adrian backed the starship out of the berth. He merged smoothly into the traffic being guided by port control either into berths or out of the docking hub. Minutes passed in silence as the station's computers went about guiding the traffic.

Finally, the exit loomed ahead. _Ladyhawke_ soared out the large rectangular opening and into open space. Adrian maintained speed until they crossed the defense perimeter, then throttled up to maximum sublight speed. The outside view switched aft to show the rapidly receding space station. When the station had dwindled to a tiny point, the view snapped back forward, not that there was much to see except lots and lots of nothing.

"Sensors are picking up a lot of traffic around the system," Teelana reported. She frowned at her displace. "It looks like there is a small group moving parallel to our course."

"Confirmed," Miriam said. "They are slowly adjusting vectors. Now changing to an intercept course." The AI projected the trajectories of all the starships involved and the projected point of intersection.

Adrian nodded. "That's where it'll happen." The lighting lowered and turned blue; red used to be the preferred color until it was discovered that blue was easier on the eyes for combat conditions. Power transferred to weapons and defensive systems. "Power down the torpedoes and set plasma blasters to forty percent power."

Miriam was aghast. "At that power setting the best we can do is damage them unless you hit them in the right spot. Let me take them out. Scans show they can barely scratch my paint let along do any kind of serious damage to me."

"NO!" Adrian barked. "I don't want them to know what capabilities we have. They are coming out of the woodwork because we took out Cardas. If they find out how powerful this ship really is, we'll never be able to go anywhere without everyone wanting to make a name for themselves popping up and picking a fight with us. Now do as I tell you or I'll shut you down."

There was a long pregnant pause as the AI considered Adrian's explanation. Teelana's hand drifted to the emergency shutdown control for the computer's higher brain functions. Finally, Miriam answered, "Very well. I shall follow your orders."

Adrian sighed with relief.

"But you owe me a fight. A really good one."

"First chance we get," Adrian promised. "I find the Val-kyrie tech who thought a bloodthirsty AI was a smoking hot idea…"

Teelana said over her shoulder, "Fight now, complain to the front office later."

"Yes. Mommy," Adrian scoffed blithely. It was a good thing her sitting in front of him meant she couldn't see his grin.

Not that it mattered. "Wipe that smile off your face and get serious," she advised. "We're being hailed."

A rectangular block on the forward port side of the wraparound screen opened. A weasel-faced man who appeared to be having a permanent bad hair day stared out at them. "Fancy meeting you here, Cobra. You're made quite a name for yourself lately. What's the matter? Your reputation not enough for you as is?"

"I've already been over this with Lazar. Apparently I needed a better translator," Cobra growled.

"We don't work for Lazar," Weasel-face snapped.

"Then by all means, enlighten us as to whose rock you crawled out from under," Teelana said.

"While some would like to see you added to their stable of bounty hunters, there are those who see you as a threat. Boss Braxus, for instance."

"And he sees taking me out as a way to move up a level or two in the pecking order? Fat chance. He's number seven on the list for a reason."

"They are fanning out," Teelana said, quietly. "They're trying to surround us."

Cobra shook his head. "You've got nothing for us. Stick to your small-time scams. You don't have what it takes to run around with the big dogs."

Miriam reported, "They are powering up weapons. Simple laser blasters and rockets."

 _Ladyhawke_ continued course and speed with a slight trajectory adjustment, Cobra aiming for a close pass to Weasel-face's ship. As the starship passed within, the other craft opened fire, but their systems were not up to the task of tracking the Val-kyrie starship. All of the enemy ships were converted freighters of various sizes, with extensive modifications and repairs.

Cobra shot past the command ship in a flash. Throttling back the main engines, he used the banks of attitude thrusters mounted in groups of four nozzles around the nose to flip the ship over onto her back. While there was no designated up or down in space, it was still a strange sight to see the enemy freighter upside down. Physics took over as the _Ladyhawke_ continued in the same direction it had been traveling while bringing her weapons to bear on target.

The horizontal bar under Cobra's left hand controlled the engine output, sliding it forward to increase thrust, pulling it back to reduce it. The thumb button on the inside engaged the boosters. Buttons under each curled finger controlled the offensive weapons. First and middle fingers snapped out bursts from the plasma blasters in whatever combinations the pilot chose. The default setting was for the first finger firing the inner blaster port and starboard blaster in tandem while the middle finger fired the outer weapons. The ring finger launched weapons from the starboard torpedo tube. And the pinky discharged the port side tube.

The middle display on Cobra's console lit with a targeting reticle. Using the right-hand joystick, he adjusted the ship's angle until the reticle settled on the enemy ship's engines. He squeezed off a quick two-second burst. Plasma bolts lanced along their backtrack and ripped viciously into the thrust nozzles. In seconds, the modified freighter was disabled.

The remaining five starships tried to maneuver to go after their prey, but their systems were no match for a starship designed for combat. Missiles chased after the speeding bounty hunter ship. Blue panels amidships on either side snapped open and launched counter missiles forward and away at a forty-five-degree angle. Incoming missiles were intercepted well short of their target.

Cobra finished the fight in under two minutes. Five modified freights drifted dead in space. Frantic calls to their home port for assistance went out unhindered. _Ladyhawke_ had the capability to jam those calls for help, but Cobra did not want them to know about that capability, either.

The last freighter must have had an issue with its power distribution system. A terminal feedback tore through the ship seconds after the engines were destroyed, the energy surge hitting the main reactor, causing a fatal overload. Freighter and crew were vaporized in an instant.

 _Ladyhawke_ soared around in a leisurely turn and slowed to a halt in front of Weasel-face's ship. People could be seen through the bridge windows milling around in a frantic attempt to do something useful.

"Listen, Weasel-face, because I'm only going to say this once," Cobra demanded over an open channel. When no one on the other ship paid any attention, he dialed back the power on the blasters and snapped off a quick burst at the hull along their port side. All activity through the window ceased instantly. "Do I have your attention now?"

The comm window popped up on the wraparound display. "This isn't over, Cobra."

"You're in no position to dictate terms. I, on the other hand, am," Cobra snarled acidly. "Spread the word to your boss and anyone else looking to make a name for themselves. This is lesson number one. From here on out, lesson number two will be fatal for all comers." Cobra leaned toward the window knowing that the camera on his end had a tight shot of his face, and it was now filling the screen on the other side. "Tell them that if they want to stay a step ahead of me-" he pushed the eyepatch up to reveal the blind left eye and diagonal scar crossing it- "they need to keep both eyes open." Cobra broke the connection and brought the _Ladyhawke_ up and over the stricken freighter, slamming the throttle forward, they blasted way.

The screen darkened as the record ended. The lights increased in intensity automatically. General Hammond let his gaze travel around the conference table, making eye contact with each person in turn. To his left were Colonel Markson, Captain Majourny and Gabriel Burns. On the right were the Sorceress, Adrian Cobretti and Princess Anyssa. Hammond still found it hard getting used to the fact that this young woman was the second in line for the throne of race of warrior women. Yet, she showed a maturity rarely seen in young adults.

He glanced down at the open file folder before him containing the reports submitted by Adrian and Anyssa. Composing his thoughts, Hammond looked at Cobretti. "Well, you certainly have a way with people."

Adrian shrugged absently. "What can I say?"

"You can start by assuring me that the colonel's bad habits are not rubbing off on you," Hammond said. A few chuckles issued around the table while the colonel in question tried to look offended.

"He hardly needs any pointers from the colonel with regards to making enemies," the Sorceress replied.

"That's right. "I'm quite capable of irritating people all on my own."

"Your report on the encounter with this Boss Lazar would seem to confirm that. Whether it is due more to you or the legend surrounding the bounty hunter you impersonated remains to be seen."

"Which is exactly why the new ship should be used sparingly," Adrian pointed out. "If we use it too much and word gets out that the bounty hunter has been seen in places where he normally shouldn't be, it'll limit what I can do when the hunter is required."

Sorceress nodded in agreement. "It would make it harder to travel about if the starship were seen too often."

Evidently, Colonel Markson had been arguing in favor of using the replacement starship in situations other than continuing the ruse that the bounty hunter known as Cobra was still very much alive and on the prowl. Flying around with a figurative bull's eye painted on the hull was no way to operate.

"Eventually, people are going to get wise to what's going on," the colonel pointed out.

"Yes," Adrian agreed. "And when that happens, I'd like to be ready to take down a boss or two at the end of it."

"Oh," Markson replied. "Looking to add a few notches to the pistol butt, are we?"

"Well, since I don't carry a lipstick case…" Sorceress answered with a smile, a reference to a famous Pat Benatar song.

Markson grumbled something about creating a monster. Most Earth references went over the woman's head, but lately she had shown a remarkable knowledge of things to fight back with. With surprising results.

"What?" Sorceress asked, suddenly uncertain. "Did I get it wrong?"

"Oh, no," Jo-jo answered, grinning "You got it right. Unexpected, but right."

"We'll table the discussion on the new starship for now," General Hammond said, getting the conference back on track before it really went off the rails. "With He-man and the surviving Masters liberated from the penal planet-"

"Unwillingly, it would seem," the colonel grumbled.

"-we need to plan our next operation," Hammond finished, ignoring the colonel.

"Our course of action is clear. In order to return He-man and She-ra to prominence as the symbols of hope in the galaxy, we have to return their power to them," Sorceress replied.

Hammond nodded. "How do we do that?"

"We must recover the Sword of Power and Sword of Protection."

Adrian asked, "Magic swords?" Sorceress nodded. "Cool, he grinned.

"I don't suppose these swords are in a convenient hiding place that can be accessed without getting into a fight?" Colonel Markson asked. His sardonic tone indicated that he was not expecting a simple solution.

"Of course not. After the Masters were captured on Eternia and shipped off to Hel, the swords were taken to another place as trophies," Sorceress explained. She unconsciously adopted a motherly teaching tone of voice that often reminded people of a specific teacher they once had. "The swords can be recovered, but it will be difficult."

Colonel Markson sometimes acted clueless on occasion, but he was in reality a lot brighter than he let on. "And since Adrian asked Boss Nash for intel on Etheria, I'm guessing someone on that planet is a collector."

"Etheria," Gabe mused, racking his brain for something he should remember. "Isn't that the domain of…"

"Yup," Adrian answered.

"No!" Gabe hissed, a look of horror slowly crossed his features.

Jo-jo shook her head. "Dhalon's going to love this." Their representative from the Quaedian race been sulking because he never got to kill anything during the brief Val-kyrie civil unrest. It couldn't quite be called a war because no wide scale shooting took place.

"Yup!" Adrian said, disgustingly cheerful.

Realization finally dawned on Markson. "Are you saying that Hordak is in possession of these swords?" Sorceress nodded. The colonel sat back heavily in his chair. "Oh, that's just great. If he's even half as bad as the stories we've heard indicate, he won't part with them willingly."

Grinning, Adrian declared, "All the better."

The colonel's eyes shifted from Adrian to the Sorceress and back again. Clearly, he was trying to decide who was worse.

General Hammond looked down the table at Princess Anyssa. "I realize there hasn't been enough time yet, but are your people preparing to send a recon ship to Etheria?"

Anyssa nodded. "One should be leaving in the next day or so. We have operatives hiding out on various Horde-controlled planets to keep tabs on what they are doing. Hordak's dominion is the hardest to infiltrate without incurring great peril." She shifted her gaze to Colonel Markson. "Although I have not been on your world for very long, I know enough to say that Hordak makes the vilest despots and rulers from your history look like amateurs in comparison."

Gabe frowned. "Which ones?"

"All of them."

The effect was like a bucket of ice water to the face.

Hammond turned to the Sorceress. "Is there any other way to get to these swords?"

Sorceress shook her head. "We will have to go there and take them back."

"By force?"

"Regrettably, there is no other way. Hordak will fight to keep us from restoring He-man and She-ra to power."

Markson shrugged absently. "We beat King Hiss. How hard can Hordak be?"

Sorceress fixed him with an icy stare. "Do not let arrogance cloud your judgment, colonel. King Hiss cares nothing for anything beyond his realm. The Snakemen once ruled Eternia, but that time has passed. Hordak formed the Horde long before Horde Prime came along to claim it and use it to continue what Hordak began. He is a formidable adversary."

The tension in the room ratcheted upwards as the contest of wills ensued. Before the first mission undertaken to retrieve the Guardian battlesuits, Markson and the Sorceress butted heads on more than one occasion. While she a seemingly bottomless well of patience and understanding, Colonel Markson had a way about him that would turn Buddha into an irrational chain-smoker. They had patched things up as they got to know each other, but there were still times when the colonel appeared unduly reckless.

"I never take my adversaries for granted. If you have learned anything during our missions, you know this. I won't spend the lives of my troops needlessly in pointless battles. If you say these swords are important, we'll get them back. By whatever means necessary," Markson said, meeting the woman's gaze unflinchingly.

Sorceress softened her gaze. "Yes, I have noticed your people are rather unorthodox in their approach to fighting a superior enemy. That is why I believe that we will succeed where others have failed."

General Hammond stepped in. "We know where our next mission will take us. Colonel Markson, I want you to make all your people proficient in the use of the Shrike APCs. Develop a basic operational plan that will be modified as more intelligence comes in. Sorceress, if you would please provide a map of Etheria's landmarks? The Val-kyrie agents can refine it further later." Sorceress nodded in agreement. "Captain Majourny. The _Eternia_ will likely see the most action to date, so make sure you have all departments up to speed as quickly as possible. I figure we'll have about two weeks at the outside before the balloon goes up. Any questions? Very well. I need to speak to Captain Majourny, Guardian Cobretti and the Sorceress. The rest of you are dismissed."

Colonel Markson considered saying something regarding being kept after class, but thought better of it. He reluctantly followed Anyssa and Gabe out of the room.

"You're just dying to crack the whip, aren't you?" he asked Jo-jo.

"No more than you," Jo-jo replied.

Once the door was closed, Hammond turned to his smaller audience. "A new development as arisen in our absence. It seems that the World President is putting together a committee to address the continued use and disposition of the Guardian battlesuits."

"What? Again?" Jo-jo scoffed. "Didn't he learn his lesson after that stunt he tried when we succeeded in recovering the suits?"

"Apparently not," Adrian said. "So, I guess you are being called on the carpet for this committee?"

Hammond shook his head. "No. You are."

"Say what?"

"President Alexander feels it would be best if the commander of the six Guardians spoke on their behalf. Who better to address who and what the AIs are than one who operates with them?" Hammond explained. "You can certainly do a better job of it than I could ever hope to do."

Adrian looked at the Sorceress. "I blame you for this."

Sorceress sighed. "I told you that nominating you to lead the six of us was Jake's idea. I did not put him up to it."

"Even though you thought it was a good idea."

"Of course," Sorceress said, carefully. "He just beat me to it."

Sighing, Adrian said, "I presume I have no choice in this?"

"Of course, you do, son," Hammons replied. "You always have a choice."

"It's just not one I necessarily like," Adrian finished for him. He had said that very thing to others often enough to know it by heart.

Jo-jo pointed out, "Look at this as an opportunity to present your side of the argument that the suits be left as is. Great Britain and Germany are on board with us as how they will be used. You can show the committee and the world's leader why they must remain where they are and employed as they are."

"Putin would love to get his hands on Hawk. He hasn't been subtle about wanting Sonya to return with the suit for study," Adrian reminded them.

"Then put the fear of the Guardians into them," Hammond said. "Show them why the AIs should be left alone and operating as a part of this command."

"And I do that how?"

"Be dramatic," Hammond said.

"Be daring," Sorceress suggested.

"Use force," Jo-jo proposed.

Adrian dared to ask, "If I take War Wing with me, can I shoot any of them?"

"No," the general said firmly.

"Um, what exactly is my part in this? I trust I am not delivering Adrian to New York on the _Eternia_ ," the captain said.

Hammond shook his head. "Since Adrian and the Sorceress work well together, I feel she should accompany me and Adrian to New York. I would like you to help the Sorceress with a conservative look so that no one will readily recognize her from the days after the _Eternia_ was brought to Earth."

Jo-jo's eye lit up at the thought. The Sorceress opened her mouth to protest, but the captain waved her off. "Don't worry. I'll be gentle. And while we're at it, we'll pick something out for your big date," she grinned.

Both Adrian and the Sorceress groaned. They had wanted this to be a low-key affair, but it was increasingly clear that was not going to happen. One part of her looked forward to the dinner date she and Adrian had arranged before setting out on the mission to the penal planet. Another part dreaded a shopping trip with an exuberant Jo-jo Majourny.

 _I wonder if it's too late to fake some sort of illness,_ she thought. Already knowing the answer.

67


	12. Ch 10

Ten

Castle Grayskull

Eternia

16 August 2017

The enormous magical panel adjacent to the tall dais upon which sat the throne of King Grayskull flared to life. Orange streaks of lights scintillated across its surface. A full minute passed as a quiet oscillating hum filled the chamber. The surface suddenly darkened except for three small dots. Those dots rapidly grew to form the outlines of humanoid shapes; two men and a woman, to be exact. In moments, the three stepped out of the portal into the audience chamber.

General Hammond, Gabriel Burns, and the Sorceress emerged from the portal temporarily linking Castle Grayskull and Earth. Once through, the panel turned completely dark. On Earth, the portal the Sorceress had cast using her magic dissipated into nothingness

Gabe and Hammond stared around the chamber in wonder. While they had read the mission reports from the mission to Eternia several months ago, the brief descriptions just did not do the place justice.

"This is…incredible," Hammond breathed. "How does all this fit inside the castle?"

"The best analogy would be a large box inside a smaller one," the Sorceress answered. "Space inside the castle is in another dimension. One that has no boundaries."

"Just like a Tardis," Gabe said, giddy.

Sorceress sighed. She knew of the science fiction television show Gabe referred to. "Yes, just like a Tardis. The show's creators got it right."

"I take it you have had this discussion before," Hammond stated.

"On several occasions," Sorceress confirmed.

She conducted them on a tour of the safer areas of the castle to visit. The walkway of the Elders – essentially a ring of statues of the Elders with a walkway bisecting the pit surrounding them – impressed. What Adrian had called the Grand Staircase wowed. Gabe wanted to take the right fork at the top of the stairs and explore the left tower, as viewed from outside, where the Sorceress' personal chamber and library was located, as well as the Hall of He-men. The hall contained a statue of every Grayskull guardian going back to Veena, wife of King Grayskull and first guardian of the castle after Grayskull's death.

Sorceress declined, stating that they were here for a more important reason. In truth, she knew that once Gabe started looking through the volumes in her personal library, it would take an armed escort to pry him away from them. She did, however, take them to the main library; where she almost lost Gabe to the wonders contained in a space much larger than the Library of Congress.

Gabe reluctantly left the library only with a promise from the Sorceress that he could return at some future date. Seeing the immense library reminded General Hammond of the books on loan to him. He vowed to make more time to read them when he got back to Guardian Command.

The Sorceress led the pair on a winding trip through a maze of corridors that began with a hallway that curved gently downward. The left wall was lined with identical doors. She warned them to stay far to the right as the area in front of some were more sensitive to a strangers' presence than others.

"I can see that they are doors," Gabe said, stating the obvious. "Where do they go?"

"Other worlds," she answered.

"How many worlds can they go to?" Hammond inquired.

"How many stars are in the sky?" Sorceress posed.

Gabe's mind whirled. "We could explore the galaxy using those. Maybe even the universe." The Sorceress could hear either Adrian or Colonel Markson saying 'down, boy, heel,' and smiled slightly at the thought. She refrained from saying anything, though with some difficulty.

"Let's leave that for another time, Gabe," Hammond cautioned. "Remember, we are guests here. This is the Sorceress' home, after all."

With that settled, the Sorceress continued to lead them deeper into the bowels of the castle. Hammond admitted to a desire to further explore the mysteries of the castle, his job as commander of the new Guardian Force meant staying behind while sending good people off on missions they might not return from. That was part of what had prompted him to accompany Corporal Frost and Princess Anyssa on the mission to try and rescue Adrian and the Sorceress after they crashed on an unclaimed world in the buffer zone between the Horde Empire and Val-kyrie space.

While Hammond and Gabe quickly lost all sense of direction, the Sorceress knew exactly where she was in relation the main parts of the castle. The next chamber the group walked into was the expansive museum. Artifacts spanning a thousand years of Eternian history from all over the planet. There was even a section for artifacts from other worlds which had made their way to Eternia.

Gabe paused before a display case of various bits and pieces. An object that appeared to be a short staff had caught his eye. One section was simply a rod about four feet long with a jagged break at one end. The other half had a short shaft with a cross bar and circular loop on top. Gabe saw that the jagged ends of the shafts would fit together.

"What's this? A magic staff?" Gabe asked, picking up the shorter section.

Sorceress turned and moved to a better vantage point to see what had attracted the man's attention. "Yes, it is," she answered tightly. "It is called the Shaping Staff. It had the power to transform people and objects into other forms."

Gabe digested that information. "The intelligence communities would love a device that could transform people and things." He looked wistful for a moment. "Does it still work?"

"No," Sorceress answered. _Thankfully._ "When an object imbued with magical energies is broken, such as the Shaping Staff has been, those energies are lost. While the staff could be reassembled, it would never be anything more than a staff."

"Unless it were somehow re-energized, or whatever you call it?" the general asked.

"Yes, it could be re-energized."

Gabe and Hammond shared a brief look. They could sense the Sorceress' reluctance to answer questions about this particular item. "You have had experience with this staff?" Gabe asked.

"Yes." Sorceress remembered the day Evil-lyn and Skeletor attacked in another bid to take control of the castle and plumb its secrets; Evil-lyn had used the staff to turn her into a living tree. She shuddered, remember the feeling of her body transforming into unmoving wood. While she had been right outside the castle on the jaw bridge, and in close enough proximity to utilize the castle's power, it had taken everything the Sorceress had to break the spell. Not long afterward, He-man had broken the staff in two, ending the threat of it ever being used for evil purposes again.

"Anything you want share?" Hammond asked, delicately.

"No. We should continue. What I have to show you will make all this inconsequential," the Sorceress said. She turned and headed for the exit on the far side of the chamber.

Hammond and Gabe had to hustle in order to catch up with the woman before she rounded the first corner. The pair followed the Sorceress through another maze of corridors which all looked the same. Hammond and Gabe by now had no idea where they were in relation to either the museum or the jaw bridge. The castle's guardian, however, knew exactly where she was and where she was headed. After five minutes of silence, broken only by the scrape of boot heels on stone, the group arrived at their destination. It was a single door in an otherwise long, empty hallway.

"Here we are," the Sorceress announced.

"A non-descript door somewhere deep in the castle," Gabe said. "So, what's behind door number one?"

In answer, the Sorceress grasped the metal handle, pressed the lever with her thumb to release the latch, and pushed the door open. The men followed her inside a darkened chamber. Gabe realized that there had been not torches, lights or any kind of magical illumination strips anywhere along the way, despite their ability to see. The chamber they were in was oppressively dark and forbidding. Gabe also had the sensation of being in an immense chamber.

A pool of light slowly flared to life in front of them. In it stood a pedestal with a display screen on top. A piece of high technology in a castle dating back hundreds of years. Gabe and Hammond cautiously approached. The pool of light brightened at their approach, and the screen came to life.

"A proximity sensor," Gabe observed.

"What does it control?" Hammond asked.

The Sorceress answered, "Touch the screen and find out."

The men shared a look; neither was anxious to activate the device. Finally, Gabe pressed his right palm to the inert screen, the device coming to life at his touch. Information began scrolling up the screen -in English. More and more lights began flaring to life throughout the vast chamber. As the true dimensions became apparent, the men stood dumbfounded at what was revealed.

"What is this place?" Hammond asked when he finally found his voice.

"Something wonderful. And terrifying," the Sorceress answered. Blank stares met her gaze. "In a time long past, a race known only as Ancients ruled over much of the galaxy. They were a benevolent people who made their knowledge freely available to all who desired to expand and grow. The Ancients had many libraries strewn across the galaxy where beings could go to study and grow as a race. What you see here is the only complete library known to exist. Adrian and I found it on the lost world of Scholos. You may be more familiar with its more recent name: Hel."

Hammond stared in shock. Gabe sucked in a gasp of astonishment.

"Scholos was the greatest of all the library worlds," Sorceress continued. "When the Ancients left this galaxy, their empire rapidly crumbled over the course of a thousand years. Much of the knowledge was presumed lost as the libraries were plundered one after another. Many pieces exist around the galaxy, but a completely intact library had never been discovered."

"Until now," Hammond replied. "This is what the inmate and his girlfriend found on the planet and safeguarded the whole time?"

"Yes. Apparently, there was a transportation unit still functional capable of teleporting the entire library anywhere in the galaxy. Once." The Sorceress continued. "Grayskull seemed to be the safest place as long as no one knew that an intact library existed much less where it went."

Hammond moved to the railing and gazed out across the warehouse on unimaginable information and technology. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Eugene never would have believed it. Row upon row of some sort of storage assemblies that reminded him of a server room made up approximately seventy percent of the chamber. The other thirty percent was made up of technological marvels only some of which he could identify. One even appeared to be some sort of spacecraft about the same size as the now retired space shuttles.

"A person could spend a lifetime in here and only scratch the surface," Gabe breathed, still in awe by the sight.

"Several lifetimes, I would think," Sorceress speculated. If anyone who would know, it would be her. While she professed to not know her true age – speculation about the validity of that statement was cause for much conjecture among her friends – the Sorceress had had a long time to study many topics. Many magical related.

Realization suddenly dawned on Gabe. "Why show this to us? I mean, other than to put a picture to what was glossed over in your report?"

"I was wondering when you would get around to that," Sorceress smiled. "I talked to General Hammond about allowing limited access to this library to a specific group of people."

"How many are in this group," Gabe perked up, the wheels turning in his mind.

"Right now," Hammond interjected, "just one. You."

"One? One!" Gabe sputtered. "I can't down proper research with just one person. 'An Army of One' may be a fine slogan to the U.S. Army, but it doesn't work so well for scientific research."

"Says the man with dry erase boards strewn throughout his office," Hammond pointed out, referred to the numerous boards Gabe liked to use to work out scientific conundrums in a visual manner when he couldn't work them out in his head. "For now, you will be the only one with access to do research in the library. Be thankful the Sorceress allowed that much. Since this castle has a history of being a magnet for megalomaniacs, would-be despots and anyone looking for power enough to dominate others, I agreed with her that keeping it hidden is for the best."

Gabe heaved a heavy sigh. "Very well. I suppose I need an escort every time I come to visit?"

The Sorceress produced a small device from somewhere. "This device will guide you to library. Only you. If there is someone with you, all it will do is lead you in circles."

A disembodied head materialized in the air next to Gabe. "I will be your guide when required. I will also assist in your searches, if need be."

Gabe jumped back in alarm. "Now I've seen it all," he breathed, trying to calm his racing heart. "You did that on purpose."

The Spirit of Grayskull looked shocked at the very thought of such an outlandish act. "Considering the things you have seen, and likely read about over the past two years, I would think you would be used to this sort of thing," Spirit said.

"Um, right," Gabe said absently, his attention already wandering back to the screen.

"I suggest we head back to Earth so you can formulate a list of items to research in this library," General Hammond suggested. "Sorceress, thank you for sharing this with us. I understand why you felt it was so important to try to save this. I'm sure Adrian understands, too."

Sorceress nodded. "He mentioned the Library of Alexandria that was destroyed in your planet's history."

"Yes, a tragic loss. One that should not be repeated."

Before leaving the library, the Sorceress assured them that a stairway down to the floor of the chamber would be built before Gabe's next visit. She opened the door they'd entered through, but the trio stepped out, not into the unremarkable corridor they had seen on arrival, but the corridor of doorways leading to other places.

Looking around, and spinning in place, Gabe said, "Um couldn't we have just taken one of those straight to the library?"

"We could, if I chose to. I wanted to impress upon you what would happen if anyone other than yourself tries to use that crystal to gain access to the Ancient library."

"They would end up walking around in circles," Hammond said.

Sorceress nodded. "Literally." She led the way back to the main chamber and the giant magic screen. Promising to return to Earth within several days, she waved her left hand, summoning a flair of magical energies, and the portal blazed to life shimmering with streaks of red-orange fire. Once the visitors were safely returned to Earth, the Sorceress made her way up to the left tower where her private chambers lay. Safely inside, she closed the door and heaved a heavy sigh.

Walking across to stone table, she said, "They are gone. You can come out now."

Heels scrapped on stone. A talk woman dressed in white robes cut to flatter her figure stepped out from behind the curving arc that was the headboard of the bed. Silver hair cut to shoulder length framed a face that appeared around fifty years old. One look in the eyes, however, reflected a woman of much greater age.

"How long did you know I was here?"

"The moment I stepped through the portal. Did you really think Grayskull would hide your presence from me? Just because you are the former Sorceress of Grayskull doesn't mean you can go skulking about at will."

"My, but your tongue and wit have gotten sharper."

"Well, that tends to happen when I find out my mentor has been lying to me and my friends," the Sorceress said, evenly.

The other woman stiffened. It had taken longer than she had expected, but this truth was about to come out. It was part of the reason what she was here. "Lie. That's a bit harsh. Omitted a few details. Massaged the truth a little bit, surely. But lie? Well, not in this case."

A book materialized in the Sorceress' left hand. It was an unassuming volume, slender and indistinguishable from any other in her private library. "Do you recognize this?" She opened the cover and began flipping through several pages. "There is an entry here for Koduk Ungol, predecessor to Teela Na. It states here that she is deceased along with a great many prior guardians. I see no mention of a Kodek Ungor anywhere. That was the name you used in the pyramid on the sanctuary moon."

"Self-preservation. It's hard to look for someone if they think you are already dead," Koduk explained. She had been in the last days of her life at that point, but that was part of the mystique of being the castle's guardian. Once a suitable replacement was found, the retiring guardian had two options. The first was to go off and live out the remaining years of life wherever and however she chose. The second option was a sort of rejuvenation and extension of an already long life. That option had been used by a few of the former guardians, like Koduk, but, it came with a price. The former guardians were required to keep a low profile in galactic events – stay out of history's way, as it were – or join the Elders in their realm outside of space and time.

Those who chose the rejuvenation of the magical energies gifting them with long life almost unanimously left the galaxy to explore other galaxies in the cosmos. Can't stay any more out of local history's way than that, after all. A one-way trip to another galaxy to explore and maybe make a difference in. What could be better after a long life watching events unfold and do nothing more than record and protect the castle for some future date?

Koduk was the only one to join the Elders, but the Sorceress had to wonder at the reasoning behind that choice.

"Becoming a threat in your old age?" Sorceress said sarcastically.

"Well, now that you mention it," Koduk said, totally serious. "I knew you would discover the deception sooner or later. I was hoping sooner, but you and your new friends have been rather busy of late. Bringing He-man and She-ra back from the penal planet was a bold move. It has attracted the attention of the Elders once more. Be very careful as to how you proceed."

Sorceress arched an eyebrow. "A threat?"

"A warning. After the fall of the Hall of Wisdom, the Elders originally hid themselves in the crystal chamber. They didn't remain long. Although they left behind the Orb of Power, the Elders still had a cumulative level of power sufficient to take off to parts unknown."

"But you know where they went." It wasn't a question.

"Of course. Can't keep an eye on someone if you don't know where they are," Koduk said, winking. "All I'm doing is trying to warn you to proceed carefully. Recovering the swords is the next step, but try not to make yourselves a bigger target than you already are."

"The Horde will return to Earth at some point. That was a given when they left two years ago," Sorceress pointed out. "How much bigger of a target can we get?"

 _Poor choice of words,_ Koduk thought. "Try 'priority target,' then. I'm not sure what is going on, but I do know that Elders were not happy to see you chosen as one of the Guardians." She held up a hand to stall the Sorceress' protest. "I know. The castle has more of a say in it than the Elders. If the castle wasn't comfortable with you being where you are, it would draw you back here. The point I'm trying to make it that the Elders seem to have a far-reaching plan that may include the battlesuits. To what degree, I cannot say. In their own way, I believe the Elders look forward to an end to the Evil Horde. What they have planned beyond that day…scares me."

Sorceress waited Koduk out. To hear her admit to being fearful of the designs the Elders were making was disturbing enough. Of late, as the barriers in her mind have slowly broken down, the flashes of memory she had been having seemed to back up her friend's statement.

"I am not privy to any part of their plans," Koduk continued. "They keep it amongst themselves. While others have been added to the group, the original eight still keep their secrets."

"We'll be careful," Sorceress assured Koduk. "I know you have to keep your secret, and I appreciate the risk you are taking just being here and telling me what you have, but the barriers in my mind continue to break down. Sooner or later the truth of what happened when the _Eternia_ attempted to return from the future will come out." She stepped closer to her predecessor. "If they are responsible in any way for the degenerative disease I contracted earlier this year, I will not rest until I know for what reason they did that to me. And what they hoped to gain by eliminating me."

Koduk swallowed hard. She had never heard Teela Na speak with such conviction before. With Falcon at her back, there would be little anyone could do to stop the Sorceress if she ever set aside everything that made her who she was. Koduk resolved then and there to make sure that eventuality never came to pass.

"I must return. People tend to get a little concerned if I am away for too long a time," Koduk said.

"They figure you are up to no good?"

Koduk nodded. "I trust this conversation will remain between us?"

Sorceress nodded. "For now. I can't guarantee anything if I start to remember more of what happened on the _Eternia_. I must follow my own path no matter where it leads."

Koduk nodded. "Fair enough." She turned away and walked over to the door, opened it. "Good luck on Etheria. Hordak is not one to underestimate. If your friends thought the fight against King Hiss and the Horde army he controlled was something, well, Hordak will be worse. Much worse. Be very careful. He is not the only threat on that world." She left without another word, quietly closing the door behind her.

"Just the way we like it," the Sorceress said to the empty room. Her eyes widened in shock because that statement had come out with disturbing ease. Even more disturbing was that she was looking forward to challenging Hordak's little slice of empire.

73


	13. Ch 11

Eleven

Senate Oversight Committee

World Government Headquarters

Former United Nations Building

New York City, Earth

23 August 2017

When word of the date set for Adrian Cobretti's appearance before the World Government oversight committee had been established, General Hammond's plan for travel from the Area 51 complex to New York City went into action. Jo-jo whisked the Sorceress off for a brief shopping trip for several outfits. One for the committee hearing. And one for her date. Hammond had suggested several places to dine in and around Washington, D.C., with several from President Alexander.

Hammond's group left the base the day before the session to land at Andrews AFB. From there, the general, Adrian and the Sorceress got into a waiting limo for the drive to the White House to meet briefly with the president to discuss the impending hearing. After that, President Alexander took them out to dinner on him at what he considered to be the finest restaurant in DC. Turns out, it wasn't a flashy five-star affair. Rather, it was what most would consider a hole-in-the-wall, mom and pop business whose cuisine was better than any five-star restaurant because the recipes had been in the family for generations. The president proudly informed the Sorceress that some of the best places to eat were establishments such as this one. Of, course, the Secret Service cleared the place for the length of the president's stay, but the owners were compensated handsomely for lost business; Alexander limited himself to only a few visits per month.

The next morning was an operation focused on a single objective: get President Roshenko's committee to back off from an overt attempt to supplant control of the Guardian Force. President Alexander's suggestion to Adrian was simple. Be himself. General Hammond and Adrian Cobretti nearly choked at the suggestion while the Sorceress kept her game face on.

After a brief flight to New York, they got into another limousine, and were currently on their way to the former United Nations building where the World Government oversight committee awaiting in the main hall.

"Exactly what do you mean by being myself?" Adrian asked, cautiously.

"I have read all the mission reports. I know of the effects caused by a session in the Horde mind sifter," the president said. "I want you to use your bouts of eccentricity to good use." When Adrian still didn't quite grasp what he was driving at, he resorted to an analogy Adrian was familiar with. "Remember in _Iron Man II_ when Tony Stark had go before a similar committee and answer for what they called the Iron Man Weapon?" Adrian nodded. "Put Robert Downey, Jr.'s performance to shame. In your own way, of course. Wouldn't want his lawyers coming after us for some infringement or another."

"Of course," Adrian answered, not quite believing what he was hearing. He still didn't like the idea of going before the committee, since he was a terrible public speaker even when reading from a script. Answering to this committee on behalf of the Guardians as their designated leader still chaffed. Adrian turned to the Sorceress seated beside him. "I still blame you for this."

Sorceress sighed and rolled her eyes. "We have been over this," she said, studying the passing scenery outside.

At the President's inquiring look, General Hammond explained what happened. While the battlesuits were being upgraded with better armor and components, the Guardians, minus Adrian, had gathered for a vote. The topic: Who would lead them in all future operations. The concern was that, while the Val-kyrie training helped to further their development in the use of the battlesuits, and learn how to start working in teams great than one, they had no designated leader like the command structures in the military units. The Guardians needed one voice to speak for them and lead them on the path they must walk. The Sorceress knew in her heart who that leader should be, but was unsure of how to present her argument. Jake Rockwell had come to her rescue without knowing it; he was the one to suggest Adrian Cobretti lead them. While Jake occasionally fantasized about leading the team, he knew he was unsuited for the role despite his training. The memories he inherited from Gatling Arm's previous operator only reinforced that decision. War Wing was the command unit. Contained within his computer core was an untapped wealth of information that would make his operator better equipped to lead the Guardians as a team.

The vote had been quick and unanimous.

"I have never read anything to indicate that the Sorceress of Grayskull in anything other than trustworthy," the President said. "And yet you don't trust her statement that electing you as the leader of the Guardians was not her idea?"

"Well, if I acknowledge that Jake beat her to the proposal, I would have to find something else to needle her about," Adrian confessed.

The President looked even more confused. Adrian believed her, but refused to admit to it? The Sorceress came to his rescue before his mind ran in circles. "It's a Spock and McCoy thing. Or some such nonsense," she explained without turning from the window.

"Ah. Yes. Now it makes sense." Alexander paused, then added. "I'm getting the feeling that you enjoy it as much as he does."

Sorceress's head snapped around at that, but she said nothing; any denial she could made would sound hollow. Life inside Castle Grayskull had been quiet and uneventful, for the most part -and somewhat lonely. Although she would die before admitting it, the Sorceress did enjoy the bickering. Sometimes.

"I'm married, my dear. I've had some experience at these things," the President explained with a smile.

"Hmm," Sorceress said absently, returning her attention out the window.

General Hammond explained about the dinner date Adrian and the Sorceress planned before the mission to the penal planet. Their way of having something to come back for. A practice adopted from British pilots who were known to leave chess games, card games, etc. unfinished so that they had something to survive and return to.

"And everyone is blowing it all out of proportion," Alexander said.

"Way out of proportion," Adrian confirmed.

"That was why I suggested that they have their dinner out here somewhere where the eyes of the base can't reach," Hammond said. "Plus, I know a few places around D.C. that I highly recommend. The little place you took us to last night definitely made the list."

Alexander smiled. "I'm glad you approve."

The convoy of limos arrived at the former United Nations building in short order. The group was met at the curb and escorted into the impressive building. The session was due to start as soon as all the attendees had arrived.

Several aides led the wait to the main chamber where diplomats from the world's nations once gathered, and still did as part of the World Government, but today's gathering would be a lot smaller, much to Adrian's relief. Even so, the gathering of people numbered almost two hundred. The committee itself number only a dozen, seated at a half-moon table facing a sea of around a hundred seats formed into three sections. In front of those seats sat a table that could seat six, but would only have Adrian Cobretti and General Hammond. The Sorceress would be seated behind them in the first row of the spectator area.

A low murmur filled the chamber as people conversed about whatever people in their position talked about at times like this. Off the spectator's far right behind all those gathered to witness what was to come, two people studied the crowd. Specifically, General Hammond and his party. President Alexander was not with them as his presence was restricted to being an observer. General Hammond, Cobretti and the Sorceress spoke briefly before the general and Adrian took their seats.

The taller of the pair was an officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Angular features, slim build, and a head of hair with only a touch of gray; the officer kept himself in shape through regular exercise. His eyes, on the other hand, revealed a man only out for one thing. Himself.

His companion was shorter, fat from lots of good food and lack of exercise, wore glasses, an ill-fitting suit probably bought off the rack, and was sweating despite the comfortable temperature in the chamber. "This is going to be a circus. As the designated leader of these Guardians, Cobretti could have at least worn a tie."

"You've read the reports. He's unpredictable. Hammond will have no control of the proceedings. President wanted this committee meeting. The committee wanted the leader of the Guardians. They are on their own with this," the officer pointed out, eyes fixed on the woman who seated herself behind Cobretti and the general.

She was tall despite the black boots with one-inch heels. Hair so black it was shot with streaks of blue fell to the shoulders and was tastefully made up. Her clothes were conservative with a blue silk blouse, a knee-length black skirt and matching coat. A small medallion was nestled between her breasts on a thin silver chain.

Fat Man noticed the officer's scrutiny and followed his gaze. "You eying the girl? I admit she is good looking, but hardly worth such attention."

"Did you see the medallion around Cobretti's neck?" When Fat Man nodded, the officer continued. "He brought one of those suits with him. War Wing, if I remember correctly. The girl is wearing a medallion, as well. But it doesn't look like the pictures of the others in the files."

Fat Man put two-and-two together. "And you thought the girl might be another of the Guardians? Probably just a secretary, or something. Nice bit of eye candy, but hardly relevant to the venue."

"Perhaps," the officer said, distracted. There was something vaguely familiar about the girl, but he couldn't quite place where he might have seen her. While she appeared to be in her thirties, the eyes seemed somehow – older.

The session was called to order by the committee head, a man by the name of Vladimir Orskov, the Russian ambassador to the World Government. The other members of the panel consisted mainly of Eastern European and Mideastern nations. Not a good sign, as far as Adrian was concerned. All the nations represented were those who wanted a piece of the Guardians and the advanced technology they represented. The Russian Premier wanted Sonya to return home to Mother Russia with the Hawk battlesuit.

"Sergeant Cobretti, you are aware of why you have been asked to appear before this committee?" Vladimir said, opening the proceedings.

"Yes," Adrian answered. "I am aware of the reasons for being ordered to appear. And it's Guardian."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You should address me as Guardian Cobretti. I am an operator of one of the Guardian battlesuits. Said operator is referred to as 'Guardian,' not whatever rank they held before."

Vladimir consulted briefly with his fellow panel members. He turned his gaze to General Hammond. While the general didn't say a word, the look on his face was clear. The World President wanted this. He got it. They were on their own. Hammond would answer any questions regarding the Guardian Force. Anything dealing with the battlesuits and their operators would be directed to Adrian Cobretti.

"Very well, Guardian Cobretti," the ambassador acknowledged. "Now, with regards to the Guardian weapons-"

"You can't have them. Case closed."

"The case, as you call it, is most certainly not closed. The World President feels that the disposition of the battlesuits must be re-examined."

Adrian and the general looked at each other. They suspected this had been the purpose of the committee formation.

"I acknowledge that this issue had been examined after the battlesuits were recovered from the sanctuary moon, and that an agreement had been reached," Adrian explained. "Both Great Britain and Germany were on board with leaving the suits where they are. Your president refrained from commenting. Only after we began to understand their true power did the Premier clamor for a piece of our action. Fishy, fishy."

"Serge- Guardian Cobretti," Vladimir caught himself before Adrian could jump on him. "The battlesuits belong-"

"To themselves," Adrian cut the man off. "You are aware that they are sentient? While they may be machines, they still have awareness. And, please, we are machines in our own right. What difference does it make if life is biological or mechanical?"

"The battlesuits represent a technological boon for Earth. That must be explored," the ambassador from Iraq persisted.

"Exploited, you mean," Adrian translated.

"I wouldn't know about that."

Adrian couldn't help himself now that he was getting on a roll. "I certainly hope not, being a politician and all. C'mon! Is it really so hard to understand that these weapons are alive and have consciousness? Hopes? Dreams? You tear them apart to see what makes them tick and you will destroy what took almost a thousand years to evolve. That's murder."

"They are machines," the ambassador from Jordan said. "Nothing more. Now tell us the truth of these machines."

Adrain's hand slamming down on the table top echoed like a gun shot in the chamber. Hammond jumped, but recovered quickly. "You can't handle the truth!" Adrian snarled. "You don't _want_ to handle the truth. You people want to bury your heads in the sand while tearing apart the only defense there is at keeping the Horde at bay. Did you really think we drove them away two years ago? No. They just had something more important than us to deal with. If you think they won't come back, think again."

"Which is exactly why the battlesuits need to be examined in depth, their secrets learned and put in to use to protect this planet," Vladimir interjected.

"That's already being done," General Hammond said. "Guardian Command was created to use the battlesuits to their best advantage. They cannot fight a war on their own. The Guardian Force had been created a thousand years ago to support the suits and their operators. That continues today."

The Russian ambassador let out an exacerbated sigh. "And to date, very little in the way of technology has been released by your command, general. And we were just informed of your alliance with a powerful race of female warriors whose technology could be of great help in our defense."

Adrian considered the ambassador's statement. His words were echoed by the other members of the panel. "So, you think you are worthy of what they have to offer, huh?" Adrian mused. He and Hammond locked eyes. The General shrugged absently. Arian looked over his shoulder to the Sorceress. Her shrug was slight, but spoke volumes. The lifted left eyebrow suggested that he give the Russian what he asked for. Turning back to the row of politicians, Adrian said, simply, "Okay."

The chair slid soundlessly on the carpet as Adrian shoved himself back. He rose and stepped around the table. There as a nice open space off to the right. Touching the glowing crystal medallion, War Wing began to expand and wrap Adrian in a suit of black and silver armor that could have come straight out a Marvel movie. The crowd buzzed at the sight, but the real show was still to come.

Once out in the open area, the suit flared white and altered further. The silhouette changed shape to resemble the twelve-foot battle mode form. The flare faded away leaving the winged suit standing in place facing the committee.

Hammond leaned back in his chair and turned slightly to mouth to the Sorceress, "At least he remembered to deactivate War Wing's weapon systems."

"Are you sure?" the Sorceress asked, eying the towering battlesuit. When the general didn't answer, she added, "That's what I thought."

War Wing appeared to be disarmed with the shield and plasma rifle nowhere to be seen. That didn't mean Adrian couldn't call up those items in an instant, however. As for the cannons mounted in the head and collar, the committee would just have to trust that Adrian kept his word to bring the suit with all weapons disarmed.

Seams formed in the armored chest and panels swung open to reveal Adrian Cobretti sitting in chest/abdomen area. He was now dressed in the black jumpsuit with gray across the shoulders. The command patch was present on the left shoulder and the War Wing battlesuit patch on the right. Adrian nimbly climbed down to the floor and gestured to the Russian ambassador.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Adrian challenged. "You need an engraved invitation with gold edging? A little script writing on the face?" A wave of chuckles swept through the audience.

"Are you suggesting I go inside the battlesuit?" Vladimir said, showing no sign of getting up.

"Unless you have a better way of finding out if you are worthy of what they have to offer," Adrian shot back. He turned to the audience. "Anybody got a phone? Someone give the ambassador a phone! He has to call the Premier for permission." More chuckles and a few heckles from the crowd. Adrian turned his attention to the ambassador from Jordan. "Premier for permission. Premier for permission. Say that five times real fast." The man cracked a smile in spite of himself.

The Russian rose from his seat and walked over to stand before the suit, looking uncertain about climbing up inside. Making comments about the weapons of war was one thing, interacting with one was something else entirely. The man's hesitation only confirmed what Adrian and Hammond suspected. No one on the committee had any idea as to the true nature of the sentient weapons or how to properly utilize them. All they saw was what was essentially a multinational group of six people in command of weapons more powerful and technologically advanced than anything Earth had yet to produce. Everyone wanted a piece of that tech for their own ends if for no other reason than feeling left out of the loop.

"That's it. Climb up in there. War Wing won't bite," Adrian goaded.

Vladimir settled himself in the seat. "Now what?"

"Just sit back and enjoy the ride," Adrian answered. He jumped down to the floor, and the battlesuit closed around the ambassador.

Whistling, Adrian strode to General Hammond's side of the table where he pulled out an empty chair; the one presumably placed there for the Sorceress. He dragged it out in front of the general and centered it up facing War Wing. "What do you think?" he asked Hammond.

The general looked from the chair to War Wing and back. It was a distance of about twenty feet. "Looks a little long, son."

After a brief consideration, Adrian agreed. "You're right." He pushed the chair forward until it was positioned opposite his own chair at the table. Instead of returning to his seat, Adrian plopped himself down on the table, whistling, swinging his legs back and forth and occasionally checking a watch that was not strapped to his left wrist.

"How long is this going to take?" one of the committee members asked.

"As long as it takes," Adrian answered, absently. "Could be minutes, hours, even days, though I doubt it'll take that long." After another long minute or two, another member of the committee opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when Adrian held up a warning finger. "Four…three…two…one…"

Panels snapped open as fast as the actuators could go, heart-stoppingly fast. Issuing a strangled cry, Vladimir came flying out of the operator's compartment as if he'd been shot out of a cannon. The man struck the floor about eight to ten feet out and rolled a few times eventually coming to rest up against the chair Adrian had prepositioned.

"Nice form, Vlady, but ya gotta stick the landing," Adrian explained, lightly. "I don't think you're gonna be taking home the bronze."

Vladimir was breathing heavily from his experience inside the battlesuit. Face flushed, beads of sweat breaking out all over his face and neck, the Russian glared at War Wing. "T-that-that _thing_ probed my mind, and then kicked me out!"

Shaking his head sadly, Adrian scolded, "Bad move, Vlady."

What happened next took everyone by surprise. Adrian kept his face locked in an impassive mask – barely. General Hammond stared in open astonishment. The Sorceress' eyes widened in shock, but she recovered quickly. There were many gasps, a few cries of terror and a general sense of near panic as the four-meter-tall battlesuit began walking.

Gabe's team had theorized that an AI could affect self-mobility without an operator inside. The symbiotic relationship involved the suit's use of an operator's senses for balance and coordination like an organic gyro that supplanted the one built into the suit. Gabe had wanted to run a suit through some mobility tests; after his team got this report, they could move on to something else.

War Wing's movements were slow and measured, but they were astounding nonetheless. The right foot crashed down with a muted boom. A whine of hydraulics punctuated the movements of the left leg.

"What is happening?" Vladimir demanded.

Adrian rolled his eyes. _Only a Russian would ask the obvious._ "He's going to step on you and pop you like a zit, what do you think?" he snapped. "I wanted this committee _not_ to refer to him as a 'thing' or an 'it,' but you people are a lot slower on the uptake than I gave you credit."

"Call him off!" the ambassador practically screeched as War Wing successfully took to steps closer.

"Not gonna happen," Adrian sighed. "You see, he hasn't stepped on any Horde troopers in several weeks. I kinda owe him." As the battlesuit took another step, Adrian hopped off the table and moved away from the oncoming Guardian. "If any of you have ever been to a Gallagher show, you know how messy this is about to get," he advised the first few rows of people.

Frozen in place by terror, the ambassador screamed, "What do I do?"

Showing true anger for the first time, Adrian moved back to the table, slammed his hands down on its surface, and snarled, "You want to save yourself from a gruesome end?"

"Da! Da!"

"Then apologize!" Vladimir opened his mouth, but Adrian cut him off. "And mean it! You got one shot at this, Mister Ambassador. Make it count."

War Wing raised his right foot. He stood perfectly balanced with his right foot ready to descend on the cowering man.

"I-I-I apologize!" Vladimir screamed. He was bordering on hysterics by now, eyes glued to the Etherium-shod foot poised to mash him into the carpet. "I'm sorry I called you a thing. Clearly…clearly you are much more than what you started out as. I'm sorry!"

War Wing's head turned. The optics behind the green lenses focused on Adrian. AI and operator stared at one another for long moments. A slight tilt of his head to the right and a raised eyebrow was his only response. It was more than enough to tell War Wing that the decision was his. Wing turned his head back to the cowering human staring up at the underside of his right foot. The tension in the chamber rose. The committee members and the audience seemed to be holding their collect breaths waiting on the outcome.

With an animalistic growl, War Wing swung his foot back and slammed it to the carpet less than a foot from the ambassador. To his credit, Vladimir didn't implode in his pants on the spot, but it was probably a very close call.

"Well, thanks for the invite," Adrian announced. "It's been real entertaining, but it's time to go." War Wing opened for his operator to climb up inside. Once safely out of sight of everyone in the chamber, he said, "Nice job. Guess Gabe can cross self-mobilization off the list."

"I really wanted to step on him. One less worm on this world," the AI responded.

"Waste of effort. They breed like rabbits. Kinda like lawyers."

"You owe me," Wing said.

Sighing and rolling his eyes, Adrian promised, "I'll add you to the list over Mirriam."

Astonished, Wing quipped, "You're giving me top billing?"

"I saw you first. Besides, you showed remarkable restraint in not vocalizing. Thank you."

"You did stress the need to not reveal certain upgrades the Val-kyrie gave us."

"And you did splendidly. Now, let's get out of here. I've had enough of this political crap," Adrian said.

A white flare covered the battlesuit and it shrank down to the human form combat armor. From there, the armor retracted into the medallion hanging from a silver chain. His clothes had transmuted back into the semi-formal ones he had worn to the meeting.

"We're done here," Adrian declared, heading for the nearest aisle.

"We announce when the meeting is adjourned," Vladimir countered, having recovered some of his former bravado.

Adrian rounded on the man. "You wanna take your chances with War Wing again? It can be arranged. No? Then we're done. You can't have the Guardians. Can't control them. And you certainly can't have them for dissection. Anyone – _anyone_ – who comes to take the suits by force will be sent home in bags." His gaze bored holes in the Russian ambassador. "Tell your Premier that if he wants Hawk, he must decide how many of his armies he's willing to rebuild from scratch when it's all over."

General Hammond and the Sorceress had to hurry to catch up to Adrian. No one stood in their way as the trio left the chamber.

"That was impressive," Fat Man observed.

"Your grasp of the obvious is impressive," the colonel said, offhandedly. Having seen a Guardian and examples of that one could do, he was more convinced than ever that they had to get ahold of one of those suits for study. His organization was working on reverse engineering a suit, but things would go faster if they had one for study. Somehow, they had to get one even if it meant sacrificing entire armies to do so. Perhaps the Russians…

"President Alexander said to be yourself, son, but – Jesus," Hammond chuckled.

"Too much?" Adrian asked, innocently.

"Strangely, for you, not so much," the Sorceress answered. "I just hope that display isn't an indication of what it would be like to be married to you."

Grinning wryly, Adrian commented, "Oh, no. That would be much more entertaining."

Sorceress had slowed her pace. When she felt certain that Adrian was out of earshot, she said, "That's what I'm afraid of."

"Would you like a chaperon for your dinner date?" Hammond asked, innocently. He wasn't entirely successful at suppressing a grin.

The woman fixed him with a steely look. "I'm quite old enough to make my own decisions."

"Well, let's hope this one is quieter than the last one," Hammond said. He was referring to an incident a few months back when a group went into Las Vegas for a night on the town. The night was partially ruined by a group of thugs who thought they could play rough with Colonel Markson and the Guardians. They discovered differently. Not long after the incident, the same thugs disappeared without a trace.

Hammond decided to ask a favor of President Alexander to ensure history did not repeat itself. If it did, he doubted Washington, D.C. would survive it.

80


	14. Ch 12

Twelve

Guardian Command

Area 51

Nevada, Earth

25 August 2017

After having arrived back at the base the day before, Adrian got caught up on developments in the science division. Several changes had taken place while the _Eternia_ had been away. One change was that while P90s would still be used on missions, along with the venerable M47 pulse rifle, General Hammond instituted a change to Adrian's portrayal of the bounty hunter, Cobra. Instead of using a P90 that could be linked back to Earth, Hammond insisted on a different rifle. Gabe selected the F2000 Tactical Rail rifle currently in use in Belgium. The tactical version would allow for fitting whatever scope on the extended rail on top of the weapon. It could also be fitted with a GL1 grenade launcher that fires the same 40x46mm grenades as the M203 launcher used by the U.S. military.

Many alien races used projectile weapons, so the F2000 would be different enough to not arouse suspicion. Hammond approved the selection and ordered that Adrian be checked out on the weapon system as soon as possible.

Adrian, of course, resisted the idea, but orders were orders. His opinion improved dramatically when he found out he would get to fire off a few grenades. Boys with toys. He spent most of the day learning how to disassemble, clean and reassemble the weapon. One he started practicing, he quickly picked up the art of aiming and firing grenades. Instead of using the optoelectronic fire control system originally designed for the weapon system, the trainer decided to try integrating War Wing's system. Since Adrian almost never went anywhere off world without the battlesuit, using the suit's advanced systems would be better than anything Earth could produce. The trick was in designing a headset that would be unobtrusive for that purpose.

The result was as simple as it was elegant. The eyepatch the bounty hunter wore over the left eye, lost hunting a particularly nasty bountyhead, was replaced with a device having the outward appearance of an ocular implant. It was a perfect cover that would allow Adrian to use his metamorphic abilities to turn his left eye into the scared, sightless orb only when necessary.

Gabe's team of geeks came through with an interface that was simple, elegant and it worked. But that wasn't all they had been up to. After returning his new weapon to the armory, Adrian received a summons to the main hangar. He arrived to find Jake, Gabe and Nick standing in the central part of the chamber. Off to the immediate left, the other Guardians were gathered at the monitoring station for the maintenance and upkeep of the battlesuits. The Sorceress appeared to be retelling the events that took place before the oversight committee; occasional bursts of laughter reached his ears over the usual sounds of maintenance, repair and the other activities that were a part of the daily life of the underground installation. Today was a good day because people could converse in small groups without having to shout to be heard above activity in other part of the massive hangar.

"This had better be good, Gabe. I'm told the commissary is serving a veal Parmesan that is actually pretty good. I'll be very unhappy if I miss out," Adrian said meaningfully.

"This won't take long," Gabe promised.

Adrian studied the shape under the shroud for several long moments. Something about it appeared familiar.

More laughter from monitoring station drew Jake's attention. "What's going on over there? Sounds like a good party."

"Oh, the Sorceress is probably giving them a blow by blow from the subcommittee meeting," Adrian said, offhandedly. He squinted at the shrouded object. Eyes widened in sudden realization. Clamping a hand on Gabe's shoulder, Adrian breathed, "You worked the bugs out of it!"

Grinning broadly, Nick confirmed, "We worked the bugs out of it." At a gesture to a couple of techs standing on the other side of the machine, the pair grabbed a fist full of cloth and pulled.

Jake gawked in astonishment. A devilish grin spread across Adrian's face.

The underlying structure was the same as the prototype War Machine, but with major revisions. The cockpit module was taken from an Apache helicopter. A heavy-duty transmission powered three pairs of wheels; one forward and two aft. The wheels were around four feet in diameter, with solid rubber instead of an inflated tube. This prevented flats and, coupled with an independent suspension of all six wheels, allowed it to cross terrain most other off-road vehicles could not hope to despite having a ground clearance of under two feet. Stub wings set on the sides just in front of the rear wheels contained sensors and cameras.

The bulk of the weapons were mounted on the armored aft section, the 30mm gun now up on top where the rotor assembly would be. It could rotate a full three hundred sixty degrees and elevate up to twenty degrees. Locked to two pylons on either side of the gun turret were Hellfire missiles. Below those were the cylinders containing nineteen general-purpose unguided 70 mm, 2.756 inches in diameter, for a total of thirty-eight weapons. As with the prototype, this one ran on a small fusion reactor and contained a fabrication system to replace expendable weapons in seconds. If there was power, there would be weapons to shoot with.

"We've added a few improvements," Nick said. He explained that the main sensor array was still in the nose. A helmet system was being finalized for crewmembers as this version of the War Machine was meant to be the first in a small fleet of vehicles. Since a Guardian rarely went anywhere without the battlesuit, the helmet of the combat mode power armor form could be modified by the AI to the operator's preference and linked in to all onboard systems.

"At least you got rid of the control stick on the side and put in the steering yoke," Adrian said approvingly. Trying to control the prototype in a firefight using the rudder peddles to steer and break while changing direction with the control stick mounted on the right-hand console had turned out to be all but impossible.

Gabe nodded. "Other than that, the control layout is the same as the prototype."

Jake and Adrian climbed into their respective compartments to verify that claim.

"Nick mentioned a new system?" Adrian inquired, scanning the control panels for a clue as to what it could be.

Nick and Gabe shared a knowing grin. "We figured out how to deploy a new modification just for Jake, if he's ever let loose behind the wheel again."

"That wasn't my fault!" Jake snapped.

During the Battle for Grayskull, Jake had driven the prototype into battle. At one point, the enemy zeroed in on Jake and shot up the ground around him, resulting in the War Machine rolling over several times. The tumble damaged enough systems that the machine had been effectively knocked out of the fight. While it wasn't strictly Jake's fault, that didn't stop his friends from teasing him about at every opportunity.

"What new system?" Adrian prodded. He wanted to hit the commissary before his stomach rebelled.

Nick explained. "We have been puzzling through all sorts of blueprints for technology from the _Eternia_ 's computer files. Some of it we understand. Some is so theoretical as appear nothing more than magic, or gibberish. But some items are within the realm of the possible for our technology." He paused, grinning; Jake and Adrian simply stared at him. Nick hurried to finish. "We developed, tested and installed a defensive system that creates an armored shell around the machine. The armor is strong enough that you can literally drive through a brick wall almost three feet thick. _A_ _t speed_."

Skeptical, Adrian said, "You're joking."

"We never joke about our work, Adrian," Gabe admonished. "It took some doing, but the armor system works and is ready for deployment."

Jake could see the potential of such a radical system. "Can it be adapted to other things?"

Nick hesitated. "Yes. However, the system doesn't seem to scale up very well to larger objects like, say, a starship."

"We're working on it," Gabe assured them."

"Can't wait to test it out," Adrian grinned.

Gabe and Nick cringed inwardly. When Adrian tested something out, the typical result was having to build it new from scratch, with upgrades.

"I would have loved to see Ambassador Orskov take flight. A little humility would do him good," Sonya mused, smiling at the thought.

"Well, War Wing and Falcon recorded everything," the Sorceress replied. "I'm sure they will be more than happy to play the recordings on one of these monitors for you." She gestured to the stations around them.

Brad shifted his attention to the middle of the floor. "Looks like someone got a new toy."

"Gabe's team finally finished it," Sorceress said. "I heard that is what the production version of the War Machine was supposed to be."

"And yet nothing new added to our arsenal," Sonya complained.

"There are plenty of systems to choose from in my files," War Wing reminded her. The designated monitor for the battlesuit lit up with one schematic after another flashing across the screen. "All you have to do is choose and I can transfer a copy to Hawk."

Jeromy frowned. "I'm surprised you haven't been picking and choosing already."

Blitzkrieg sounded horrified. "Without any input from our operators? Oh, the horror. While we are built upon the memories and personalities of our former operators, we cannot fight effectively without our current operators."

Claw chimed in. "We certainly have our preferences, but finding ones that both machine and operator can agree on is preferred. It will make us more effective fighters."

Everyone thought of the limited mobility War Wing displayed at the subcommittee meeting. The techs had thought it possible, but without a practical test, no one could be sure what the AIs were capable of on their own. A testing schedule was to be set up to find those limits and develop contingency plans.

The operators filed that away for a later date. They had more important things on their minds.

"Enough of that for now," Brad said, changing the subject. "We have a more important matter to discuss."

"What could be more important than preparing for the next mission?" Sorceress asked. The sinking feeling her gut told her where this was going.

"We want to know how date night went," Sonya said. Her tone and posture indicated that she would not accept the Sorceress' usual evasive answers.

"Show them or I will generate a hologram everyone in the hangar will see," Falcon advised her operator.

Casting a sidelong glance at the normally stoic battlesuit, Sorceress muttered, "Traitor." She held up her right hand, palm up. Drawing on the magical energies created by the living planet, a hologram took shape. The swirl of energies darted about in a spherical shape for a few seconds before settling down into the form the Sorceress imagined. The mass coalesced into two figures standing on the palm. The others gathered around for a closer look at the life-like hologram of Adrian dressed in a semi-casual sport coat, turtleneck shirt, slacks and shoes complimenting the long-sleeved blue cheongsam the Sorceress had worn.

"I knew it!" Brad exclaimed.

"We _all_ knew it, Brad," Sonya scolded.

Dismissing the hologram, the Sorceress said, "I don't understand all the fuss. We had a dinner date arranged before we left on the mission to the penal planet. Adrian was a perfect gentleman and we had a nice quiet time."

"Yeah, but what happened afterwards?" Brad pressed.

"We returned to the hotel."

Brad and Jeromy looked as if they were about to have a state secret bestowed upon them.

"We returned to our _separate_ rooms," Sorceress elaborated.

Jeromy's face fell. "No nightcap?"

Smiling evilly, Sorceress answered, "No."

Brad opened his mouth to protest, but Sonya cut him off. "Forget it, Brad. She vill not give you the answer you want. I am just happy she is having a life outside of this place."

Deflated, the men decided it was time for dinner. Sorceress went with them only on the promise they let the subject of her personal life drop. Growling stomachs forced them to agree. Sonya promised to join them is a little bit, and to save a place for her.

Sonya sat before the station designated for Hawk. She called up her personal email and opened the first one on top, the most recent, received on the twenty-fourth. One day after Adrian's appearance before the subcommittee. Sonya read through the brief message again, though she had it committed to memory by now. The woman was so absorbed in the email and its meaning that she practically jumped out of her skin at the sound of a voice behind her.

"Everything all right, Sonya?" Adrian asked. Jake had gone off to join the others in the commissary, but Adrian lingered when he saw Sonya still at the monitoring station.

"Da," she mumbled. She thought for a moment and added, "Nyet." She waved a hand at the screen and the email it displayed.

Adrian didn't really need to read it to know what it said and where it came from. "Mother Russia calling you home and demanding that you bring Hawk with you," he said. It was a statement rather than a question.

Sonya nodded. "The Premier does not believe your sincerity."

Adrian looked at the received date. "I doubt he's has time to see the footage from the subcommittee meeting. Either way, his troops will have to go through the rest of us to get to you. General Hammond will tell your countrymen where to stick their demands. He'll be polite about it. I, on the other hand, will be more politically incorrect."

Sonya snickered at that. "That does not stop them from making life difficult for my family. I get at least three messages a month from my mother practically pleading with me to return." She shook her head. "They do not understand. None of them do."

Adrian sighed, wheeled a chair out from another station, spun it around and sat on it backwards, crossing his arms and rested them on the backrest. "Well, remember what the Sorceress' friend said when we found the suits." He was referring to their meeting with Koduk Ungor on the sanctuary moon, although they didn't know her name at the time; the Sorceress had supplied that later. "She warned us there was no going back once we accepted responsibility for the Guardians. What sacrifices we must make because of that choosing will be an ongoing thing. This deal with pressuring you and your family are one of those. You're not alone in this; we're all here for you." If Adrian isn't considering plans for getting Sonya's family, I'll eat my hat.

"Da, I know. It still hurts to think that narrow-minded men can be so stupid and selfish in light of all the evidence presented to them." Sonya sighed with the same weariness Adrian sometimes felt. "They only see what Hawk and her technology can do for Mother Russia. Not what it can do for the whole planet. The galaxy, even. Tis not right."

"We'll make it right," Adrian promised. "Now, let's go get some food. Sitting here lamenting about things you can't do anything about is bad for the digestion. I heard the commissary is serving a pretty good veal Parmesan and I don't want to miss it." He stood up and held out a hand to her. "You're not alone in this, so let's go eat and be merry. I'm sure your family wouldn't want you sitting around moping."

"You got that right," Hawk's voice issued from Sonya's console. "Being connected to her thoughts is depressing me. Go. Eat and be merry. Lighten up. Think about all the Horde troopers we'll get to flatten on our next mission. That always helps me sleep at night."

Sonya laughed despite trying hard no to. "Since when do AIs sleep?"

"Well, it's the thought that counts. I suppose when we shut down it's as close to sleeping as we get."

Adrian said, "You have two options. Join me in the commissary with the others or sit here and listen to Hawk psychoanalyze you. Since the Val-kyre gave them a way to talk to all of us instead of just each other and their respective operators, imagine being analyzed by all six of them." With the stations tied in to a specific Guardian, that would get real ugly real quick.

Sonya turned a glare on Hawk, who stood second from the far end. "Don't say it, Sonya," the AI advised. "Yes, we will."

That made up her mind for her. Sonya took Adrian's proffered hand and stood up. She closed out the email system and shut the monitor down before leaving the hangar with Adrian in search of food.

There would be time enough to worry about the stupidity of the World Government later. While member countries might rattle their sabers at the monopoly of the technology in Area 51, none of them would be eager to experience Adrian's promised bloodbath that would ensue if they tried to take the battlesuits by force.

At least, not right now.

85


	15. Ch 13

Thirteen

Guardian Command

Area 51

Nevada, Earth

28 August 2017

General Hammond called a meeting for later in the morning to go over the upcoming mission. A message from the Val-kyrie had been waiting for him when he returned to the base late Sunday night. Now, it was time to plan the objectives for the mission.

Captain Majourny arrived early with Gabe Burns and four of the six Guardians. Princess Anyssa arrived next and took her place in line with the captain and scientist. The Guardians rounded out the other seats with only the head of the table and two chairs to the head's immediate left and two on the right side empty. Hammond was still in the adjoining room he used for an office. Cobretti, Colonel Markson and the Sorceress were conspicuously late. Rare for them, especially the Sorceress.

The group did not have to wait long. Voices drifted in from the entrance opposite from Hammond's office. As the group drew closer, they could make out the voices of their missing compatriots. They were in deep discussion about a movie, but no one could readily identify it.

"The rules changed," Colonel Markson was explaining as he entered the conference room. Adrian and the Sorceress were right behind. "In this business they always do."

The three took their seats as Hammond emerged from his office in the adjacent room.

Sorceress frowned. "But if you throw the hammer in an elevator-"

"It would still go up," Adrian finished.

The Sorceress shook her head. "The elevator is not worthy."

Taking his seat, Hammond asked, "Am I missing something? A new weapon you have discovered?"

"Oh, we had a Marvel movie marathon in the theatre over the weekend," the colonel explained. "Sent you a memo about it."

"This was my weekend to spend with the grandkids," Hammond nodded. "That would explain the rather terse message I received regadirng your takeover." He sighed. "I trust this won't become a habit?"

"No, sir. I'll be sure to invite you in plenty of time to join us next round," Markson replied with a grin.

"Anyway, we've received word from the Val-kyrie. It looks like the mission will be a go by the end of the week," the general informed the group. He gestured to Princess Anyssa to take over.

"A battlestar will be on station for a rendezvous some time in the next seven days. It will be the _Defiant_ under to command of Commander Mundu," Anyssa began.

"We're going to have a battlestar as backup for this one?" Captain Majourny asked.

Anyssa nodded. "Unless you would rather take on an unknown amount of Horde warships in the Etherian system. Which is probably at least a battle group."

"You're certain of that?" Jo-jo asked, paling at the thought.

The princess shook her head. "No one knows for sure because anyone foolish enough to fly deep into the system never returns. Boss Nash might be able to give us some numbers on smaller ships, but Hordak tends to hide his capital ships until they are needed for a worthier target. However, by the time we arrive, a scout ship should have a better picture of what we will face. Or rather, what the battlestar will face."

Markson looked skeptical. "One battlestar against a battle group?"

Anyssa smiled. "In the hands of the right commander, a single battlestar _is_ a battle group."

The holographic projector in the center of the table came to life. The gathering went through a who's who of the current rollcall of villainy on Etheria.

Hordak looked like something out of the old Dracula movies, only much more vicious. After the fall of He-man and She-ra, Hordak decided to take back rule of his empire from the creature calling itself Horde Prime. The battle was short. Hordak nearly died, but Horde Prime spared him at the last moment to use as an abject lesson to all that to oppose Horde Prime's rule was to court certain death. The four-armed, two-headed creature known as Modulok saved his master using advanced technology and science. As Hordak's chief scientist, Modulok had access to all sorts of resources that even the most technologically advanced civilizations could scarcely dream of. Hordak's broken body had been remade using nanites into a veritable living suit of armor on par with a Guardian's combat mode power armor form. Already possessing the ability to transform his body into many forms from rockets to arms cannons, Hordak's new nanite body had made him even more incredibly dangerous than before. Gone was the sometimes-buffoonish figurehead of the Horde forces on Etheria. In his place was a demon the likes of which even H. P. Lovecraft couldn't conceive of.

Shadow Weaver, formerly known as Light Spinner, was Hordak's resident witch. She was as powerful as any that walked the face of Eternia, more ruthless than even Evil-lyn would have dared to be. After her fall to darkness, Shadow Weaver had clothed herself in red robes that covered her from head to toe. The current image displayed in the projector showed her still clothed in red, eyes still glowing with magical energies, but wearing a more form-fitting robe of leather panels that flattered her figure; it also left the upper chest and neck bare and revealed a hint of her angular features. Most striking was the color of her skin; like dark grey ash. She now carried a black staff over six feet long capped with the characteristic blood red batwings; symbol of the Horde Empire. Nestled in the base of the wings where the head of the bat would be lay a ruby imbued with magical energies.

Others were covered in short order, though in less detail, from Scorpia with her deadly scorpion tail and pincers for hands. Catra, whom they were already familiar with. Octavia, Mantenna, Grizzlor and the currently known forms of Horde trooper robots.

The Fright Zone looked more frightening than any haunted house – real or made for Halloween – than anything on Earth. Just looking at it sent shivers down the spine. All black structures, the zone's central pile looked like a spider laying on its back. There was nothing comfortable or inviting about anything in the zone. It was as if all color had been leached away. What color did remain in the structures consisted of only one. Blood red.

Colonel Markson called it a blight on the face of Etheria in desperate need of removal.

"So," Jo-jo said after that part of the briefing concluded. "What is the objective?"

Hammond looked to the Sorceress seated to his immediate right. "Now that He-man and She-ra have been freed from the prison planet, they need to be restored to power," she answered.

"And how do we do that?" Brad asked.

"By recovering the source of that power." With a wave of her hand, the Sorceress changed the image in the holotank to that of two nearly identical, if plain-looking swords. One had an oval-shaped blue crystal set in the metal above the pommel. "The Sword of Power and the Sword of Protection."

"Which is which?" Jeromy inquired.

"The Sword of Protection is the one with the crystal."

Jake groaned. "Please, don't tell me this Hordak has them hanging in his throne room like trophies."

"Why, yes," Sorceress answered lightly, as if that was a forgone conclusion.

"I asked you not to tell me," Jake groused.

"What kind of defenses does this Fright Zone have?" Hammond asked, flipping through a few pages of the file in front of him.

"Nothing we can't handle as long we don't engage in any prolonged battles," Anyssa responded. "Hordak has overwhelming numbers of land, air and space forces. His one weakness is arrogance. King Hiss did not take the legend of the Guardians seriously. Hordak would not care either way. To him, the Guardians are simply one more obstacle in the path to galactic domination."

"Well, we'll just have to change that perception. King Hiss didn't take us seriously, either," Colonel Markson declared.

Adrian cleared his throat. "I'm all for teaching the Horde a lesson in our brand of warfare. However, Hordak has kept an iron grip on Etheria for a long time. He won't hesitate to bring out the heavy weapons we've only seen once before." He was referring to the battle on the planet in the neutral zone between the Horde Empire and Val-kyrie space. War Wing and Falcon had put up a good fight, but as powerful as the battlesuits were, even they could be defeated through overwhelming force. "I'm not in a hurry to repeat that battle no matter what support we have."

The colonel was reviewing the documents he had seen detailing the various tanks, missile carriers, mobile anti-aircraft guns, and a massive self-propelled cannon. Troopers and the three forms of the drone robots would act as protection and support for the heavy weapons. And then there was the hunter/killer machine designed for decimating enemy troops.

Much as Jonathan hated to admit it, Adrian did have a point. They didn't have the manpower go head-to-head with the Horde.

"So, you're saying we should do what we always do?" Markson said, carefully. Which meant making a general plan, go in, examine the situation and play it by ear after that. It had worked for them so far, but luck will only get one so far before it gets one dead.

Adrian nodded. "Hordak thinks he's invulnerable. We'll teach him otherwise."

Hammond turned to the Sorceress. "How important is recovering these swords?" While he had already decided to approve the mission, as the man responsible for the men and women under his command, he had to explore all options; including calling off the mission if it presented and unacceptable risk versus the reward of accomplishing the goal.

"Whether we go when the Val-kyrie are ready or wait for another time, the risk will be the same," she explained. "While freeing He-man, She-ra and their surviving allies from the prison planet was important, recovering the swords is critical to their restoration as a symbol for hope."

"So, it makes no difference when we go," Jo-jo said. "The risk will still be the same."

The Sorceress nodded.

"Then it's settled," Hammond said. "We go." He turned to Colonel Markson and Captain Majourny. "Wrap up whatever training programs you have going, get the vehicles, ordinance and whatever other supplies need to be replenished by no later than Wednesday. I have a feeling that by the weekend you will be launching." Both people nodded their assent. Hammond looked around and asked if there were any other questions. There were none, so he dismissed the group.

While Gabe did not have much to contribute to the meeting, his department did have a lot to contribute to the training. He would push his people to wrap up the familiarization and training program on the new assault carriers the Val-kyrie had giving the Guardian Force. Gabe would also see to it that Jake Rockwell was as familiar with the operations of the new war machine in the time allotted as was possible.

Hammond gestured for Adrian to remain a moment. After the room had cleared, he asked, "How is the training going with the Guardians?"

Adrian knew the man well enough to know he already knew the answer. "Fine. We had a few issues, but we helped fix any damage done."

Hammond chuckled. "The dock hands enjoyed the floor show, but the major in charge isn't pleased with the work stoppage. He appreciates that you help repair any accidental damage but wonders if you can't use other parts of the base for your after-hours training."

Adrian shook his head. "I thought about the administration areas to simulate close-quarters combat, but that is impractical. The three corridors connecting the R&D hangar with the starship hangar are the only ones that work. The cross corridors and maintenance rooms add to the realism I'm trying to go for."

"I'm guessing you have another session scheduled for tonight?"

Adrian nodded. "Thinking about sticking around?"

"I might just take in a show," Hammond mused. "However, I want it to be the last. When the balloon goes up, we will have to move quickly to get the _Eternia_ and _Ladyhawke_ launched."

"Understood."

Jo-jo had to hustle to catch up to the Sorceress as she walked back to the R&D hangar at a determined pace. "You've been ducking me at every opportunity ever since your big date," Jo-jo said, a little out of breath from having to practically run to get within earshot.

"Really?" Sorceress replied, innocently. "That doesn't sound like me."

Jo-jo sighed. Adrian and the others were proving to be a bad influence on her. "I know. So why are you avoiding me?"

"Maybe it's because of all this interest in my personal life?" Sorceress mused. "Or maybe it's because people are compensating for a lack of a personal life of their own."

That gave the captain a moment of pause, and she hurried to keep up. "From what I have heard this is the happiest anyone has seen you in over two years. While you can now return to Eternia any time you want, you continue to stay here with us. You deserve some happiness in your life."

The Sorceress kept up her relentless pace. "I'm flattered by the concern, but I'm a grown woman. I think I can decide for myself what makes me happy."

"Dammit! _Slow down!_ " Jo-jo exploded. "Of all the people on this base, I could at least count on you to act your age."

The Sorceress abruptly came to a dead stop and rounded on the breathless woman. "Act my age?" she laughed. "There is no one on this planet even remotely close to my age!"

Captain Majourny waited for people passing by in the corridor to get out of range before she resumed the confrontation. "Well, the least you could do is stop acting childish."

Cracking a lopsided smile, Sorceress replied, "There's no point in being an adult if you can't be childish sometimes."

Jo-jo rolled her eyes. _I knew letting her watch those old episodes of_ Doctor Who _was a mistake. She's becoming as eccentric as the rest of us!_ "Will you at least tell me how it went?"

"You didn't ask General Hammond?"

"I did. He said the two of you forbade him to take any pictures."

"Did we? Can't imagine why."

"So, how did it go?" Jo-jo demanded. "After helping you pick out a suitable dress, you could at least tell me that much."

 _I guess I have annoyed her long enough,_ Sorceress sighed. "It went fine. We had a nice dinner not far from the hotel. Afterward, we returned to the hotel."

Jo-jo had a sinking feeling. "Please, don't say it."

"We bade each other good night and returned to our separate rooms," Sorceress continued. "Adrian was a perfect gentleman."

Jo-jo let out a strangled cry that briefly drew the attention of several people at the end of the corridor. "Separate rooms! No night cap? No private meeting after hours?"

Sorceress shook her head. "If we had, something might have happened."

"That was the point!" Jo-jo practically shouted.

"We know!"

Stunned, Jo-jo said, contritely, "You did?"

"Of course. Did you really think Adrian and I wouldn't figure out what you were up to? I told you I am old enough to decide for myself what level of happiness to enjoy. So is Adrian. After we voted Adrian to lead the Guardian team, complicating our friendship would be…inappropriate."

"I doubt anyone would complain. Both of you deserve some happiness."

Sorceress nodded in agreement. "But it will be on our own terms. And in our own time." She resumed walking toward the R&D hangar.

"Well, could you at least conjure up an image of you two dressed up?" Jo-jo resumed. "Inquiring minds want to know."

"And you complain that Colonel Markson has a one-track mind…" Sorceress grumbled.

90


	16. Ch 14

Fourteen

Battlestar _Defiant_

Deep Space

2 September 2017

Area 51 was a beehive of activity. The call came in that everything was set for the mission to Etheria, so the alarm was sounded to get both the _Ladyhawke_ and the _Eternia_ launched. While the starships had been in a state of readiness all week, it would still take several hours to accomplish the launch. The primary delay was in waiting for darkness to fall before the underground hangar was opened. The existence of the _Eternia_ was still not widely known to the general populace of the planet, even though all the governments knew about, launch and recovery generally happened at night.

Last minute checks of supplies and ordinance took place at a rapid but thorough pace, lest anything critical be left behind. Nothing could be left to chance, the coming engagement with Hordak would likely be the fiercest yet. This could well be the confrontation that changed Guardian Command's status from mild nuisance to major threat. Only time would tell.

It was after 10 pm on the first of September when General Hammond finally gave the order to launch the starships.

As the _Ladyhawke_ 's platform rumbled into position below the closed surface doors, Adrian and the Sorceress looked over their status boards one more time. The wraparound view panel displayed the scenery outside while the general appeared in a small popup window over the pilot's and navigator's stations.

Adrian glanced up at the overhead control console as it lowered to within reach, then addressed the general. "Any last words of wisdom?"

"Only an ancient Egyptian prayer a friend once told me," Hammond replied. "'May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places which you must walk.' God speed, Guardian Force, and good luck."

Since the channel was open between the command center and the two starships, Adrian heard Captain Majourny and Colonel Markson acknowledge the prayer as appropriate.

"To us all," Adrian added.

 _Ladyhawke_ emerged into moonless night. This far away from the bright lights of Las Vegas to the southwest, the sky was full of stars. Somewhere out there lay the planet Etheria; the next battleground in the undeclared war against the Horde Empire.

Adrian ordered the engines powered up. Mirriam set the inertia dampers and gravity plating systems to standby until the starship reached orbit. He pushed the throttles forward slightly to bring up the main engines. A glance at the hyperdrive status showed the drive was green.

Hammond addressed his next comment at Adrian and his navigator. "Try to stay out of trouble this time."

The Sorceress looked up from her console. "Now where's the fun in that?"

"She beat me by one second," Adrian added. "Expect us when you see us." He slapped his right hand on the control to close the channel, then curled the fingers of that hand around the control stick on the right-hand panel.

The engines roared when he firewalled the throttles. The starship lurched slightly when the brakes released and rolled down the pitch-black strip that was the runway stretching off into the distance. The ship lifted clear a third of the way down the strip. The cloaking shield engaged, and the starship disappeared into the night.

Adrian flew in a wide ascending corkscrew pattern as the _Eternia_ was raised into position. Ace was just beginning his own corkscrew pattern as the _Ladyhawke_ reached a high orbit. Adrian kept his ship out of the way of the other starship per the prearranged flight paths worked out earlier. Hanging in orbit, waiting for the others to catch up, Adrian fired several reaction control systems – RCS – thrusters to reorient the nose of the ship. Once properly positioned, he leaned back in his seat and an admired the panoramic view of the Earth as the starship passed from the nightside into daylight.

"Taking a moment?" the Sorceress asked in a hushed voice. She could not help but admire the view as well. The comm panel at her station chirped. Reluctantly tearing her eyes away from the panoramic view, Sorceress read the text message. " _Eternia_ has broken orbit and is heading out beyond the moon."

Sighing heavily, Adrian activated the RCS thrusters and pointed the ship away from the planet. "Moment's over. Time to go to work."

Once in the shadow of the moon, Adrian deactivated the cloak and warmed up the hyperdrive. The Sorceress confirmed that the course was set to rendezvous with the battlestar _Defiant_. Taking the lead, _Ladyhawke_ opened a window into hyperspace and jumped. _Eternia_ followed moments later.

The trip to the rendezvous site took only a few hours. It was in deep space outside the normal shipping lanes, where no one would look for a group of starships to gather. An immense warship from the Val-kyrie fleet soared sedately between the stars, a weapon of war unmatched by anything the Horde could field in over two hundred years.

The battlestar _Defiant_ was a Mark XX hull design over twelve hundred meters long and five hundred and ten meters wide. While the basic design had been largely unchanged over the centuries, the Mark XX was equipped with ten primary cannons for capital ship engagements. The change had been added almost two hundred years ago, when the last such warship was lost in battle engaging the Horde fleet in open warfare. Since then, both sides had engaged in covert engagements, but avoided open war knowing both sides would be crippled.

Colonel Shabala turned away from the repeating displays of the long-range scans searching for the starships they were waiting for. "No sign of them, yet, commander. We did arrive earlier than expected, thought."

The dark-skinned woman seated in the command chair nodded absently. "They will be here in due time," Commander Mundu assured her first officer. The crew was still getting over the shock of the civil war that had erupted when Senator Bregata tried to usurp power from Queen Mother Silvara and install herself on the Val-kyrie throne. The plan had been thwarted by their allies from the planet Earth. True to their promise, they had given Silvara a chance to take back her kingdom. And take it back Silvara did. Bregata was dead and all those who sided with her were under arrest pending disposition.

Rumor had it that during the fighting inside the senate hall, one of the males from Earth had even saved the youngest princess from an assassin drone. While many of the Val-kyrie people had been progressively changing their opinions about males as warriors, old prejudices died hard. Ordinarily, Mundu would have normally discounted the report; however, the footage from the senate chamber showing Adrian Cobretti transforming into a creature form and slamming an assassin drone down on one of the senator stations had changed her mind.

Mundu did have one thing going for her, though. While her friend Fontaine got the first honor of having all six Guardians on board her battlestar, Mundu would have the honor of being the first to directly support one of their operations. The mission to the penal planet did not count on the grounds that the original plan had called for simply transporting everyone back to Val-kyre; not engage in battle with several Horde capital ships.

Mundu figured she'd get some mileage rubbing Fontaine's nose in it for a while. She had to be careful, however, as Commander Harana had bragging rights to fighting along side one of the Guardians in battle.

A ringing chime interrupted her ruminations. The people from Earth had arrived.

Two clouds formed off the starboard aft quarter. _Eternia_ and _Ladyhawke_ dropped back into normal space. Within moments, core command was in contact with both ships and guided them in for landing in the port side landing bay.

Adrian watched as the _Eternia_ went in first. Ace made it look so easy. He commented on that.

"It is not as easy as it looks, though the computers do most of the work," Sorceress explained.

"Well, if you can do it, how hard can it be?" Adrian dared, blithely. Sorceress turned in her seat and pegged Adrian with an acid stare. "I'm kidding," he added, hastily.

Sighing, she turned back to her control boards, muttering, "Men."

"What was that?"

" _Defiant_ signals we are cleared for landing."

Adrian followed the computer projected approach vector. Green highlighted the left and right side of the track. If the ship drifted out of the approach vector, that side promptly turned red. The landing bay grew larger and larger as they approached the massive warship. A glance at the sensor display revealed several other vessels in the area with the _Ladyhawke_. Bladewings on approach to the starboard landing bay. The commander was calling in the CAP – combat air patrol – so that the battlestar could jump into hyperspace as soon as the craft were safely recovered.

The yawning chasm of the landing loomed large as Adrian came in on final approach. In seconds, he crossed the point of no return; he had to commit to the landing. Miriam was doing most of the working keeping the ship on course, but it still took a person at the controls to bring the ship in.

 _Ladyhawke_ passed through the atmosphere shield at the end of the bay into the brightly lit artificial world. Adrian executed a perfect four-point landing just beyond the twin lows of the approach lights on the deck. Recovery crews stood by to take custody of the ship once it came to a stop. A crewmember carrying light wands signaled what she wanted Adrian to do and where to park. The _Eternia_ was parked off to the right, currently being pushed back into a parking spot, near the crossover tube that connected the maintenance bay centered under the warship, to the starboard landing bay. Adrian smartly braked to a halt when the crewwoman crossed her wands.

Adrian and the Sorceress shut down all systems, switched over to auxiliary power and climbed out of the pilot and navigator stations. The pair moved aft to the ladder and made their way down to the forward cargo hold. At the touch of a button on a small control panel, the cargo hatch popped inward and separated. The platform upon which they stood slowly lowered to the flight deck below, when it was within fifteen feet of the deck, a ramp at the forward end unfolded and struck the deck with a muted clang.

The pair conversed briefly with the recovery crew, then set off with a Val-kyrie lieutenant across the landing bay, meeting up with Colonel Markson, Captain Majourny, and the other Guardians. The lieutenant led them along the inner bulkhead, past all the activity one would expect around aircraft.

All available craft were being prepped for war. Adrian saw pylons being installed on many fighters. He knew from past conversations that pylons put undue stress on the airframe in an atmosphere, so he figured the craft were being armed for a space battle. Others without pylons would undoubtable be flying escort and may even be dispatched to Etheria to support the Guardian Force.

The group left the landing bay quickly, took a short lift ride up the center flight pod support arm, and exited on deck one. Their escort led them on a winding path through the maze of corridors toward the bridge, situated on the upper part of the sloped front face of the bow section. They passed several crewmembers along the way, many of whom paused to openly stare as the Guardians filed by. While they were not clad in the battlesuits, combat form or battle form, the six-member team was still a topic of interest. Anyone who caught even a glimpse of them had bragging rights over all others.

The journey ended down a stairway and through a short corridor bringing them onto the bridge; the group entering via the starboard hatch. Activity here was the same low-key hustle and bustle found on any warship whether it cruised a terrestrial ocean or among the stars.

The escort led the group across the back of the bridge. They stopped in front of a large rectangular holo-table behind which was an equally large pane of crystal-like glass, capable of displaying whatever map or star chart was required. Opposite from the table was the command dais where the commander's chair and the operations station were located.

Commander Mundu and Colonel Shabala turned from their observation of the operations console. Both were resplendent in the trademark uniform of the Val-kyrie military. Centuries ago, the warrior women had worn rather revealing armor that covered and protected vital areas. Thin form-fitting pieces of metal imbedded in the uniform were a throwback to that era.

"Welcome aboard the Battlestar _Defiant_ ," Commander Mundu proclaimed, coming down the steps at the back of the dais. She dismissed the lieutenant and looked over the group with a critical eye. "Well, my good friend Fontaine may be the first to host all of you, but I will definitely be the first to support one of your operations in an active role." Splitting hairs about the role of the Battlestar _Logoss_ during the mission to break He-man and company out of the penal planet was something no one in the present company was going to debate. Mundu introduced her First Officer, Colonel Shabala, Assault Forces Commander, Major Oran, and Squadron Commander, Captain Sithas.

Captain Majourny introduced the members of her party, plus the members who would be sitting in from the conference room aboard the _Eternia_. Lieutenant McCloud and the other three platoon commanders were linked in so that all could participate in the planning session.

The commander gestured for them to follow her. The people from Earth assumed that the conference would take place around the holo-table with the crystal display map for support. Instead, Mundu walked past the table to the bulkhead hatch left of the crystal pane; the hatch opened into the bridge conference room. Mundu moved to stand at the head of the huge oval table. Her officers took seats to her right while Captain Majourny and Colonel Markson took ones to her immediate left. The Guardians took the remaining chairs. All stations had computer terminals and display screens, so the people in the conference room on the _Eternia_ could see and hear those gathered in the bridge conference chamber.

Colonel Shabala confirmed that the _Defiant_ had entered hyperspace, and that the link to the _Eternia_ conference room was active.

Commander Mundu jumped right in. "Our scout ship is exploring the Etherian system as we speak. The crew had been told not to break radio silence under any circumstances. If they discover something we absolutely need to know, they are to get out of the system before reporting in. There have been rumors about what Hordak has been hiding in the that system, but so far, no one has been able to discover what it is. I mean to change that. You may have noticed on the way up from the landing bay our preparations for receiving a warm reception from Hordak?"

"We did notice a bit of activity in the bay," Colonel Markson said neutrally.

Captain Sithas spoke up. "We have three hundred fighters to bring to the battle we are sure will take place. As many as two dozen fighters can and will be sent to support you on the ground, colonel. The rest will be needed for engaging the Horde fleet in the Etherian system."

Major Oran took it from there. "I have a company of troops for support if required. While we do have a number of armored vehicles at our disposal, we don't have near enough combat power to directly challenge Hordak on his home ground." Her eyes flickered toward the Guardians, and she hastened to add, "Even with all six Guardians to field."

Everyone was aware of the limitations of the extraordinary battlesuits. Falcon had nearly been lost due to a lucky shot in the back that damaged the power distribution system from the suit's capacitor. The problem had been fixed, and the suits upgraded at the Praetoria Research Installation. Even so, there was a limit to what they could take on.

"The goal isn't to engage in all-out war with Hordak," Mundu replied with a wistful smile. "That will come later. Sorceress?"

"The main goal is to recover the Sword of Power and Sword of Protection from Hordak. With these swords, He-man and She-ra can be restored as beacons of hope in the galaxy," she explained.

Mundu frowned. "I thought that's what the Guardians were."

"The Guardians are weapons of war," Adrian spoke up. "Nothing more. Nothing less. They are hope for victory of the Horde. They are not something to look up to as a beacon of hope for peace. The ideals this He-man and She-ra represent are what will maintain the peace the Guardians fight for."

 _Well put,_ the Sorceress thought. "There are other mysteries to solve as well. Castle Brightmoon is rumored to be abandoned since Queen Angella and her daughter were shipped off to the penal planet." She looked to her right and made eye contact with Colonel Markson. "This would make a suitable base of operations, I believe."

The possibility had been discussed days earlier. Markson nodded. "There is only one viable approach to the castle. While being cornered like that is a bad idea, it is defensible with the tech we have."

Captain Majourny added, "We will be looking for a suitable landing sight somewhere in between the town of Thaymor and Castle Brightmoon. That will be where the _Eternia_ and _Ladyhawke_ will be parked. Hopefully, it will be something useful. Preferably with roads through the surrounding area."

"All right. Time for assignments," Colonel Markson declared. "I will take Alpha Platoon and secure Castle Brightmoon as a base of operations. Who has the ship duty this rotation?"

Captain Hohiro Takamora spoke up. "That would be Charlie."

"Okay. Charlie Platoon secures the landing site where the ships and crews will sit and wait. Support as necessary if something stronger than a dropship is required." Markson paused before continuing. "Who wants to take a trip to the north pole?"

Lieutenant Thomas Garber spoke up. "Kent and I talked about it. He has arctic experience, so he'll take the job of investigating Castle Chill. That leaves my platoon to investigate Castle Mystacor."

Markson nodded. "Kent, be careful in the Kingdom of Snows. The locals might not be too welcoming despite the Snow People and the Sickies-"

"Selkies," the Sorceress corrected.

"Yeah, them. They are apparently more united now, so be diplomatic," Markson said. "As for Mystacor, go softly. Investigate the situation and report back. Under no circumstances are you to engage the enemy."

Intelligence reports had it that Queen Castaspella was a prisoner in her own dungeons while her identical cousin. Allepsatsac, now sat on the Mystacor throne. Beta Platoon's job would be to confirm the report and gauge the enemy strength before any liberation was attempted. If one was even feasible.

As for Castle Chill, well, there were only rumors. And those were not good. There had been tensions between the Snow People and the rat-like Selkies in the past, but relations had gotten better in the years after She-ra had been exiled to the penal planet Hel. Unconfirmed rumors stated that Frosta was a prisoner in her own kingdom, frozen in a block of substance bearing a remarkable resemblance to ice, though no one was sure on that point.

Gatling Arm and War Wing would provide heavy firepower, if it was needed, at Castle Brightmoon. The Sorceress would be piloting the _Ladyhawke_ , so she could help keep and eye on things there. She would go the Castle Chill once the situation there was known. In the meantime, Jeromy Ironwood was assigned to take Blitzkrieg along with Delta Platoon to the northern region. Hawk had been designed as an infiltration machine, so Sonya drew the short straw for the penetration of Mystacor. That left Brad and Claw the odd ones out to help secure the landing site with Charlie Platoon.

With the initial operation parameters set, it was time to discuss one other detail. A minor one, or so Commander Mundu said.

"One local day after you have completed your initial tasks, we will jump in system to eliminate all Horde warships," Mundu explained. "However, I can not take this ship into Etheria orbit until Hordak's primary weapon is neutralized."

All eyes turned to the holoprojector in the center of the table. It lit up and projected a wire diagram of an impressive piece of technology. Even without anything in the image to give it scale, the planetary cannon was massive.

"You call this a minor problem?" Colonel Markson asked. "I'd hate to see what you call an issue of concern."

"Something like this would usually have a limited firing arc," Jeromy pointed out.

Mundu nodded. "However, going into a geostationary orbit anywhere over Brightmoon or Mystacor puts us in that arc. While battlestars are more formidable than ever with the zero-point energy generator, they are not invincible. We project that the first shot would knock down all defenses and overload enough systems to leave a battlestar stranded in orbit unable to do anything."

Brad nodded. "Leaving you open to the killing shot."

"So how do we kill that?" Colonel Markson asked, gesturing to the image. "We have nothing that can destroy something like that. Infiltration will be next to impossible."

"All true," Mundu confirmed. "Bladewings could do the job with the same torpedoes we use against capital ships."

"However, the airframe can't handle the stress external pylons put on it in an atmosphere," Adrian said. He had a sinking feeling as to where this was going.

"Correct. What is needed is a ship that is fast, nimble, and has the firepower to breach the armored base and send a couple of torpedoes down into the plasma conduits that feed it."

The Sorceress' head snapped up when she realized what ship Mundu had in mind. Adrian beat her to the protest. "No! We're supposed to use the _Ladyhawke_ sparingly until the bounty hunter guise is no longer needed."

"Hey. You two kids have been dying to try out that ship's full potential. Now you have the opportunity and you're bitchin' about it?" Markson retorted. "Sheesh."

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Jo-jo spoke up. "And I know I'm not. The only people who have seen the _Ladyhawke_ thus far are all located in the Wayfarer star system. I doubt anyone there will care even if they manage to connect the dots."

Princess Anyssa spoke up from the _Eternia_ 's conference room. "She has a point, Adrian. And the commander is correct in pointing out that the _Ladyhawke_ is of a class of ship specifically designed for missions like this."

Adrian pursed his lips in frustration. As much as he enjoyed having the ship and the freedom to do with it what he will, situations like this was the downside to such agreements. He turned to the Sorceress, who shrugged her shoulders. Her way of saying she would follow his lead.

Finally, he blew out an agitated sigh. "Fine! But I'm changing the transponder to one of the burner IDs just in case."

"Good! Now that that's settled," Mundu declared, beaming, "we can iron out other details."

Once Markson and Majourny were focused back on the commander, they missed the hasty fist bump Adrian and the Sorceress shared. The other Val-kyre officers saw it and struggled to keep straight faces. Mundu had to bite her bottom lip to keep from smiling. Markson's head snapped around to regard the pair, but the moment was over.

The only other issue, a minor one according to Colonel Markson, was to borrow a Val-kyrie spotter from Major Oran. Corporal Frost's spotter came down with an appendicitis several days before leaving Earth, so the corporal needed an experienced person to fill in. The major promised that she had just the person in mind.

With nothing else to cover, Commander Mundu concluded the meeting so that everyone could get back to mission prep.

He-man and She-ra waited in a small, sparsely furnished room. The only furniture was a metal table and two uncomfortable metal chairs; all a gray as the chamber itself. He-man quickly grew impatient and began pacing around like a caged animal while his sister remained seated, elbows planted on the table top and fingers steepled. Both still wore nondescript coveralls as their original costumes – destroyed on the penal planet – had yet to be replaced. The Val-kyrie had said they were working on it, but He-man wondered just how hard they were trying. Queen Angella and her daughter had been provided new clothes to replace their original outfits, which only increased He-man's ire. Now, the group had been whisked away from Val-kyre on the _Defiant_ with no information on where they were going or what would happen when they arrived.

He-man stopped when the hatch rattled and was snapped open. A Val-kyre guard stationed outside stepped aside to allow the Sorceress to step into the chamber. She had traded the black jumpsuit for her costume as the Guardian of Castle Grayskull. Sorceress waited until the hatch was closed before addressing the twins.

"Finally!" an exasperated He-man spat. "I hope you are here with answers."

To her credit, the Sorceress simply raised an amused eyebrow. "Adam. Adora. You both look well."

"As do you," She-ra replied. "For a supposedly dead woman." She glared up at her brother until he finally decided to take the other seat. When he was settled, She-ra continued, "I presume you are not alone?"

"No. I am here with my friends from Earth. We are about to undertake our next mission."

"Which is?" He-man demanded, though without the anger from earlier.

Sorceress looked him in the eye. "Adam, you and your sister have been in these bodies for too long. The power of Grayskull was never meant to be held on to for so long. Adam and Adora must be returned." She looked from one to the other. "You were aware of this, Adora. I saw it in your eyes when we first met on the penal planet."

Reluctantly, She-ra nodded. "Yes. I tried to explain it to my brother numerous times, but he would not listen."

Sorceress nodded. "We are going to change that. Adam and Adora will be returned to Eternia and Etheria."

"How? The only way to do that is with the Sword of Power and Sword of Protection," He-man said.

"And the swords are in the…possession…of…" She-ra trailed off as the realization of what the new mission the Sorceress mentioned was.

He-man caught on, as well. "Hordak will not give them up willingly."

"But he _will_ give them up," Sorceress promised. "One way or another. The _Eternia_ will be departing soon for Etheria. The two of you, plus Queen Angella, Princess Glimmer and Peakablue will be escorted to the starship. After we have secured a base of operations on Etheria, we will evaluate how best to recover your swords and return you to your true forms." Sorceress turned to leave and paused at the hatch. "Adam and Adora _must_ return."

"How?" He-man questioned. "We can't simply show up out the blue. It'll look suspicious."

"How you make your return is for you to figure out," Sorceress advised them. "Recovering the swords so that you have the opportunity is ours."

He-man frowned. "Hordak will fight you. To the bitter end, if need be."

The right corner of the Sorceress' mouth quirked up in a slight smile. "I'd be disappointed if he didn't." She rapped the knuckles of her left hand against the metal. The hatch was promptly opened, and then closed after she had stepped into the corridor.

The twins remained silent for many minutes after the Sorceress had gone. Both were still trying to process what was about to happen. And scarcely believing that it was possible.

It was He-man who finally broke the silence. "Okay. Who was that and what happened to the real Sorceress of Grayskull?"

She-ra could only shrug her shoulders in helpless puzzlement.

98


	17. Ch 15

Fifteen

Planet Etheria

2 September 2017

Final preparations for departure were underway when an urgent call was received by Mirriam. It came in on a prearranged channel reserved for communiques from only one source. Boss Nash. Adrian Cobretti dashed off to the _Ladyhawke_ , scrambled up the extension ladder that extended and retracted along with the loading platform, and quickly made his way up to the cockpit. The call did not last long. Only a few minutes. Adrian returned at a much more leisurely pace.

Colonel Markson and Captain Majourny were waiting for him on the hangar deck. Adrian filled them in on the report from Boss Nash. One of his freighters had returned from a run into the Etherian star system. The crew had been ordered to follow a specific course to and from the planet, using autopilot the entire way. While a freighter's sensors were not very powerful, or capable of making detailed scans of an area, the crew was able to mark the presence of several destroyers and a battlecruiser or two. The captain did note that the course was carefully plotted to keep all traffic away from the area of the sixth planet in the system. The freighter's captain could not be certain, but he had a gut feeling that something was being hidden out in that area.

Captain Majourny promised to relay the information to the _Defiant_ 's bridge. Commander Mundu would need to know where to focus her forces since she planned to take out all the Horde warships in the system.

The Sorceress walked up once the pair had moved off in the direction of the _Eternia_. As she and Adrain watched, He-man, She-ra, Queen Angella, Glimmer and Peekablue were escorted to the starship.

"Having second thoughts?" Adrian inquired. He had seen the flicker of looks He-man and She-ra cast in the Sorceress' direction.

"About them?" she finally said, after a long pause. "No. About flying the _Ladyhawke_ , yes."

Adrian faced her. "Look. That last run in the simulator doesn't count." He held up a hand to stall her protest. "Remember. That was an unscheduled run. The techs didn't load out our flight data from all the work we did learning to fly this beast." He gestured to the ship looming over them. "So, it was like day one all over again."

Sorceress let that sink in. She had been doing well, there before that last run. While Cirandar, Falcon's former operator, had been a skilled navigator, her piloting did not compare to War Wing's former operator, Kragor.

"You can do this," Adrian insisted. "Mirriam will be doing most of the work. All you really have to do is ride herd on her."

"She will be happy to have a female at her controls for once," she conceded.

"She'll be even happier once she gets the chance to blow something up," Adrian grinned. "See you on the planet."

Sorceress watched as he walked toward the other starship. She stepped on to the platform and punched the button to raise it into the forward cargo bay. When all this first started after the recovery of the battlesuits, all six of them had had trouble integrating the memories of the former operators into their own. The original operators had been careful about what they allowed to be downloaded into the battlesuits; their engrams had been used to allow each suit to develop a sentient AI that would be capable of completing what had been started. Other engrams had been created, using only knowledge and skills to be passed on to the next operator.

Sorceress remembered how uncertain the others had been, except for Adrian. He had not shown it, but the inherited knowledge, skills and the ability to shape-change scared him; according to the official record, Kragor had not had such abilities. Her theory was that all beings would exhibit certain abilities, from mental to physical, if sufficiently evolved. The symbiosis between Adrian and War Wing seemed to have brought out such a change in him. The others were still coming to grips with the knowledge and abilities inherited from their respective suits.

Marteen, operator of Blitzkrieg, had been a sharpshooter of exceptional skill. Torin, operator of Claw, had specialized in close-quarters combat; he had been deadly with the suit's namesake claw extensions. Neeva was a genius when it came to anything technological. Her suit – Hawk – had been designed around infiltration and breaking into virtually any computer system of the time. Atrios was another brawler who was well suited for Gatling Arm. He could pound an enemy into the dirt with the twin Gatling gun pods, or move in close with bladed weapons that could be materialized attached to the forearms and cleave his way through enemy troops. Cirandar had still been learning her way around the magical augmentation systems of Falcon as the time neared where the battlesuits had to be interred behind magical barriers for the future. Of the six Guardian operators, she had been the only known survivor. She had gone off to Eternia to become the new guardian of Castle Grayskull. However, the Sorceress could find no other information about the woman, which was strange.

For the Sorceress, commanding the abilities of Falcon was far easier than for Cirandar. The danger lay in how easy it would be to abuse such power. Being essentially confined to Castle Grayskull had lessened the temptation, but now that she was out in the galaxy fighting alongside her companions from Earth, that temptation was much more seductive than ever. Not only would she have to keep a close watch on the others, she would have to be mindful of her own weaknesses. She didn't show it, her position hadn't allowed it, but the Sorceress had the same concerns, regrets, fears, loves, and so on that beings all over the galaxy had. Most people did not know this about the Sorceresses of Grayskull; the person wearing the mantel generally did not reveal her personal history. So, it was easy to overlook what a hard life it really was to exist in the castle, observing history while seldom interacting with historic events.

The lift platform bumping to a halt jostled the Sorceress out of her ruminations. She snapped back to the here and now and got back to business. Sorceress clambered up the ladder to the main corridor running the length of the ship; a second ladder aft of the one she had just used led to the upper deck where the cockpit and lounge were located.

All the systems came alive as she stepped into the cockpit. The aft sensor stations facing to port and starboard would not be used on this trip. While all four stations were specialized, each one could be reconfigured serve as a navigation station or pilot station when required. Sorceress climbed into the pilot's station set in front of the side-facing chairs; the front station was for navigation and monitoring of the ship's status. Her normal position.

"Finally. A female at the controls," Mirriam beamed. Was that a touch of smugness in her voice?

"Don't get used to it. This is only temporary. Now fire up the systems and prepare for launch."

"Oh, poo," Mirriam pouted.

When the main systems failed to come online, Sorceress repeated her order.

"I heard you the first time, but you have to input the release code for system startup. Remember, you and Adrian agreed to this."

Sorceress cursed herself for being sidetracked. She had to think a moment to call up the phrase Adrian had suggested. Something from a novel series he talked about once. Finally, she said, "Live large and stay hard."

"Release code acknowledged," Mirriam replied, all business. "Main systems powering up."

Sorceress got so immersed in the preflight checklist that she never noticed the tug and tow bar getting hooked up to the forward landing struts. Or that the starship had been towed into launch position. It wasn't until the core command advised the time until launch that the Sorceress realized how engrossed she had been trying to keep her thoughts from straying. She acknowledged the five-minute warning.

The lights dimmed by half for a normal flight ops. Sorceress strapped into the four-point harness with less than two minutes to go. _Ladyhawke_ hummed and vibrated with power; it was as if the starship was itching to roar out of the landing bay and soar among the stars. Sorceress knew how the ship felt; in the past, she had enjoyed soaring through the Eternian skies as Zoar the Falcon. With the wraparound wall screen the cockpit was equipped with, flying through space had almost the same feeling.

The tugs disconnected from the _Ladyhawke_ and _Eternia_ and withdrew to the forward part of the bay. Force field emitters glowed a bright white, marking their locations along the side bulkheads and ceiling. A shimmering curtain of energy cut off the aft half of the landing bay from the forward to prevent the engine blast from cause inadvertent damage elsewhere in the bay. When all was secured for launch, the deck officer relayed the status to the bridge.

" _Core command to_ Ladyhawke _. You are cleared for launch. Launch when ready,"_ the launch officer announced.

Sorceress acknowledged, smoothly sliding the throttles forward with her left hand while depressing the foot pedals down to keep the brakes engaged. When the engines stabilized at maximum power, she mashed the thumb button on the side on the throttle handle.

The engine roar in the bay turned into a deep-throated howl when the afterburners lit off. The starship strained against the applied brakes for release, nose dropping slightly toward the deck. Then brakes released, the starship practically leaping down the bay toward the rectangular patch of blackness at the end. In moments the atmosphere in the bay quieted down to the idling hum of the _Eternia_ 's engines.

As with the _Ladyhawke_ , Ace held the brakes while the engines throttled up. The starship roared down the bay, afterburners blazing. Once clear of the bay, Ace turned to starboard away from the battlestar. The starships formed up ten thousand kilometers off the _Defiant_ 's aft port quarter and aligned toward the distant planet Etheria. Characteristic energy clouds formed in front of them when the hyperdrives engaged. Tendrils reached out for the ships as both shot through the clouds into hyperspace. The clouds dissipated seconds later.

Andre looked up at the stars and wondered for the thousandth time what wonders lay among those bright points of light. She often dreamed of one day leaving Etheria and travel to all the planets she could. There were several obstacles to that plan: She did not have a starship. She did not know how to pilot said starship. She did not know how to navigate in space. And lastly, Andre was only eleven years old. That did not stop her from dreaming big, however.

Her most important dream was that the monsters trying to rule all of Etheria suddenly packed up and went away. Not a likely scenario, but it helped her to get through each day.

The village she lived in had no name. It lay between the major town of Thaymor to the west and the Singing River to the east. The building was not the best compared to those in Thaymor, but it was home. Living near the equator meant the seasons did not hit the extremes of other locations. Even so, evenings could be a little chilly. Like tonight. A fire blazed on the hearth inside, but Andre needed to keep up her nightly ritual of looking up at the stars providing the weather cooperated. Lighting around the shanty town was meager at best, with pools of light streaming from the doors and windows of the occupied homes. Perfect for sitting out on the front stoop and stare up at the night sky.

"Andre? Andre?" her grandmother called. "Dinner is almost ready. Come inside before you get your death of chill." An old woman shuffled out onto the stoop, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders to ward off the chill night air. "Dreaming of flying among the stars again?"

The girl looked back over her shoulder, then turned back to the star-filled sky. "Uh, huh."

Sighing, the old woman grunted as she sat down next to the girl. "Still wishing the evil monsters would just go away," she said, more as a statement. "If only it were that easy, child."

"I hate them," Andre spat with unusual vehemence for one so young. Her features softened as turned to look at her grandmother. "Do you think there are really good monsters out there?"

Grandma knew what Andre meant by 'out there.' They had had this conversation more times than either of them could count. "Of course, there are, dear. You can't have evil monsters without good ones. There must be a balance. It is a universal law."

Andre looked skeptical. "Name one."

"Moss Man," Grandma answered immediately.

"Another."

"The Quaedians."

They kept this up for another minute with Grandma always having an answer to her granddaughter's demands for another example. The debate always ended the same way with a balance between good and evil reached.

"Now, come inside and eat. Your mother has made us her usual outstanding stew."

Andre made a pained face, but quickly hid it before Grandma could scold her. Mother's cooking was terrible, although really, it just lacked spices to make it taste better. The small garden for growing vegetables and spices had been having issues this year. So, the meals suffered in quality, but Andre didn't really mind. Her mother labored hard to make the best of an unfortunate situation. The entire village did, after many of the men had been taken away by the Horde months ago leaving the remaining people to work that much harder to survive day to day doing the hunting, working the fields, and making repairs to the homes and stables.

It was a hard life, but where there was life there was hope.

Grandma forced herself to her feet, old joints creaking. "Come alone. Your supper will get cold."

Reluctantly, Andre got to her feet and followed Grandma inside. She paused at the door and looked up in the sky once more. Her heart leapt when she saw a shooting star soaring across the sky, south to north. Quickly, Andre squeezed her eyes shut and made a hasty wish. She wished that she would find a good monster to take the fight to the Horde.

Wish made, Andre stepped inside her home and closed the door.

Adrian Cobretti and Colonel Markson stood in the drop bay, staring at the line of battlesuits, while the platoons went about the tasks of weapons strip, weapons load and dropship prep.

"Are you sure she'll be all right?" the colonel asked, cautiously.

"Having doubts about the Sorceress' abilities?"

"Not at all. I just wonder about her leaving Falcon behind."

"I am wondering about that, too," the synthesized voice of Falcon issued from the portable monitoring station in front of the towering battlesuit.

Adrian looked up at the nearly five-meter-tall suit. "Well, you and War Wing haven't exactly hit it off with Mirriam. "She's going to search out a suitable landing site, not fight a pitched battle."

"But there will be a pitched battle or three in our future, I hope," Claw asked.

"You're weapons of war. What do you think?" Adrian said.

Ever since the six AIs got an extreme makeover courtesy of the Val-kyrie, they had been itching to try out their new systems and enhanced armor. The addition weapon designs stored in War Wing's memory banks had been copied into an external system so that their operators to could sift through them and decide on appropriate additions to each suit's arsenal.

"Is it my imagination," the colonel said, eying the suits critically, "or are they taller?" He caught Adrian staring hard at him. "What?"

"You have an imagination?"

"HA-HA," Markson scoffed.

Smiling, Adrian answered, "You aren't imagining it. Part of the rebuild included increasing their height by several feet. Originally, they were all around twelve feet tall. Give or take a few inches. Now they average fifteen feet. They are almost totally new battlesuits."

"Sweet," the colonel said, truly impressed. "And you kids are just dying to try out all the new bells and whistles."

Looking a little embarrassed, Adrian replied, "Well, I'd be lying if I said we weren't. Hordak apparently fears nothing and no one. I'd like to change that."

Markson grunted noncommittally. He had no doubt that if there was any one group that could put even a little fear into Hordak, it was these six people. The Fright Zone was going to be their greatest challenge yet. The Val-kyrie reported that Hordak tended to use prototype weapons systems in live tests when invading villages. If he liked the results, the design was handed off to an R&D outfit to put into production. The three types of combat drones they had already encountered were just one example; the six-legged walker machine with a top-mounted cannon Adrian had destroyed on a planet in the neutral zone between Horde space and Val-kyrie territory was another. Who knew what Hordak was going to throw at them? Whatever it was, it would be deadly, hard to kill and a learning experience.

The preparations for drop began winding down as the time approached for the drop out of hyperspace. Adrian went off the drive the new and improved war machine out of the aft vehicle bay, parking in front of dropship number one – the forward portside drop bay. The APC on loan from the Val-kyrie were positioned in front of the other three dropships, ready to back up the ramps into their drop bays. All ordinance had been loaded and secured for drop. Only personal weapons remained racked in the platoon ready areas at the forward part of the drop bay.

Adrian and the remaining Guardians crawled into the operators' compartments, sealed up the suits, and reconfigured the fifteen-foot tall battlesuits into the smaller powered armor combat forms.

When his faceplate popped open, Adrian found Corporal Frost watching them. "That's still the coolest thing I've even seen, man." It was no secret he would love to have a battlesuit of his own but had to settle for the occasional supporting role in support of the real things. They shared a fist bump before moving off to their respective duties.

Jake and Adrian climbed into the cockpit of the war machine. The gauntlets and bulky feet of their suits were further retracted to make it easier to operate the machine. It also gave them a little more room despite Gabe's team factoring in the size of the combat forms in such a confined space.

The other Guardians walked over to the respective dropships they would be leaving on. Sonya ducked into Beta Platoon's APC in the number four drop bay – starboard aft. Jeromy took Blitzkrieg over bay three – portside aft – to join Delta Platoon. Brad left the drop bay to join up with Captain Takamora and see what he could do to help secure the landing area once the Sorceress scouted out a suitable location.

With minutes to go until the return to normal space, the platoons got psyched up for the mission with the usual pre-mission chanting before scrambling from the open locker room. People dashed through the bay to form up in lines before their assigned APC and dropship. The doors on the right side of the massive vehicles popped outward and snapped apart. Personnel filed inside in short order. The doors snapped closed, and the drivers backed the machines up the ramps into the waiting dropships.

Adrian backed up into Lieutenant Feril's ship. The ramp rose into flight position cutting off the rising cacophony from four sets of engines powering up for the drop. He pressed down on the tops of the foot pedals to set the brakes and powered down the reactor.

 _Eternia_ dropped out of hyperspace right on target. The planet Etheria lay ahead and above the speeding starship. Ensign Comorov's calculations were meticulous and exact, bringing to reality Ace's idea of coming out of hyperspace below the equator, aiming for diagonal orbit that kept the starship out of the way the planetary gun and away from overflying Hordak's territory. The course also had the added benefit of having to make only one orbit after releasing the dropships, enter the atmosphere and land at whatever the site the Sorceress found for them. The idea was to get the platoons away, and then get down on the ground and powered down before any warships in the system could gain orbit and search for them.

Novina Satori manned the science station and was actively scanning for Horde warships the moment the static from exiting hyperspace cleared. "All scans negative for enemy warships. If they are in orbit behind the planet we should pick them up once we cross over the northern pole."

Captain Majourny nodded. Lieutenant Denton stood tensely at the tactical console behind and to the starboard of the captain's chair. He would not be able to relax until they got on the ground. Anything could go wrong until then.

Lieutenant Alexandra Callahan monitored the ship's computer systems and doubled as the communications specialist. "No contact from the _Ladyhawke_ , captain. If she's here, she's running silent."

"The Sorceress wouldn't break radio silence unless there was an emergency," Jo-jo said. "I doubt we'll hear from her until we breach the upper atmosphere. With the cloaking device that ship is equipped with, she'll see us long before we see her."

On her left-hand console, Jo-jo watched the dropships being lowered into the release bays. Ensign Comorov counted down the minutes to release just as they had practiced numerous times. The computer took over at minus one minute to drop. _Eternia_ rolled to make the slope of the planet the horizon. The tension mounted as the time to release drew close. As the numbers fell, the only thing that could abort the drop, besides a glitch that had been practiced, would be the appearance of Horde warships. So far, none had been detected.

The clock dropped to twenty seconds. The doors of all four drop bays opened. When the count reached zero, the release sequence executed. Bay 3 released first, followed closely by Bays 1 and 2. The staggered launches ensured that no ships collided as they maneuvered into the atmosphere. The repeater sensor displays on the captain's right-hand console showed the three craft forming up as they plunged toward the ground. _Eternia_ soared on to the next release point that would drop Delta Platoon on a re-entry aimed at the northern pole, and Castle Chill. Once Number 4 dropship was on its way, Ace took control back from the computer and began re-entry maneuvers.

Ace approached the Singing River delta that emptied into the Growling Seas. Right on target. He followed the river north toward the Kingdom of Brightmoon. The massive dark shapes of Talon Mountain slipped away on the left. The impressive mountain formed the southeastern border of the Horde Occupation Zone. Mystacor formed the remainder of the border all the way up the Whispering Woods far to the north.

The tension on the bridge had abated somewhat with the release of the four dropships. A sudden Horde attack could still spoil their arrival, but, so far, the Horde appeared unaware of the _Eternia_ 's presence. It was more likely that Hordak knew of their activities and was not concerned.

The starship slowed in flight up the river as Castle Brightmoon would soon come into range. The last thing Jo-jo wanted was to get in the way of Colonel Markson's deployment to secure the seemingly abandoned castle or reveal the presence of Beta Platoon as it approached Mystacor. And there was still no word from the Sorceress. Ace brought the starship to hover over the river almost due east of the town of Thaymor.

After almost two minutes, a signal finally came in from the _Ladyhawke_. It was a simple homing beacon. The trail led to a sizeable clearing east of the Singing River. With the cloaking device engaged, there was no sign of the other starship. However, the signal pointed to the northwestern corner.

"That appears to be our parking spot," Jo-jo commented.

Ace spun the starship about and backed into the appointed place. A suitable canopy of thick branches and leaves stretched over an area large enough to accommodate the _Eternia_. Once they were firmly settled on the landing struts, all systems were powered down. In moments, the ship was switched over to silent running lest a stray power spike betray their position to an orbiting Horde warship Jo-jo knew would be on station soon, if it wasn't already.

"Well, there's something you don't see every day," Ace commented.

Jo-jo looked up and out the armored transparent window. Her mouth fell open at the shadowy shape parked a short distance away to south east of their location.

The _Ladyhawke_ was indeed present. The cloaking device had more than one mode of operation. After scouting out the landing site, the Sorceress had set down, transmitted the homing beacon, and switched to a stealth mode of her own. To save power, the cloaking field had been reduced to covering only the dorsal side of the starship. While one could see the lower half from the ground, anything flying over the clearing, or scanning from orbit, would find nothing but the _Eternia_ , which had no such device installed. The canopy of trees the _Eternia_ currently sat under would serve as the next best thing.

Jo-jo sat back in her chair, smiling. "Clever girl." She gave Captain Takamora the go ahead to secure the area and set up the perimeter of sensors to guard against intruders the passive sensors of both starships might not pick up.

Now the worst part was upon Captain Majourny and her crew. Waiting to hear from the field teams. The waiting was always to worst part.

The Sorceress returned to the cockpit with a steaming cup of tea in hand. She slid into the seat of the starboard sensor station, which faced to that side. The lighting was subdued, as all systems were power down for silent running. Of course, that included shutting Mirriam down. The wraparound wall screen showed the outside environment, while the Sorceress focused her station on specific areas.

She listened to the soldiers scouting out the clearing grumble about the rain that had begun to fall. Sorceress wondered why it tended to rain whenever they started a mission, but no one could predict the weather.

 _It could be worse, boys,_ she thought, wryly. _You could be the ones going to Castle Chill instead of Lieutenant Howard's Delta Platoon._

Another pair were discussing her, or, more accurately, living all nice a cozy in a castle with said structure all to herself. One thought that to be a very inviting idea. His companion pointed out the history the Sorceress had revealed to them about some of the more intense episodes where people tried to steal the secrets hidden within by any means necessary. No, living life alone in Castle Grayskull was not all sun and roses. Even she was not immune to loneliness. The pair drifted on along the perimeter continuing their debate.

The Sorceress switched to following the pairs setting up the motion detector spikes along the tree line. The group working the eastern edge paused under the _Ladyhawke_ for a brief respite from the steady rainfall. A touch of a control let her monitor the comm traffic over Charlie Platoon's tac net. Nothing noteworthy there as squads continued their search of the area, so she turned down the volume. She leaned back, cupping the mug in her hands and sipped the steaming brew. One thing was for sure, the Earth people had some excellent flavors of tea. If there was one vice she had picked up on Earth, it was a good mug of tea.

A commotion on the wall display could her eye. Sitting up and taking a closer look, she saw a squad gathered around a ruined structure. Sorceress turned up the volume and switched to the panel display in front of her. Setting the mug aside, she adjusted the camera to zoom in on the object of interest.

"What is that?" Captain Takamora demanded from the _Eternia_ 's command center. "I'm not making that out too clearly."

"Structure of some kind," the soldier responded. "Appears burned. Probably caught fire."

"Reminds me of my grandpa's hunting cabin in the Ozark Mountains," another soldier mused.

That sparked a thought in the Sorceress. Her fingers tapped out commands on the keyboard. A window opened of the wall display before her. The shadowy image of the ruins was isolated as the computer began extrapolating what the structure could have been. The initial analysis was that what had happened, had taken place around six years ago. A white wire graph of potential objects was superimposed one by one over the image. After a few minutes of searching, the computer finally settled upon a likely graph. Sorceress stared at the image, tea forgotten as dread settled like a rock in the pit of her stomach.

"I think he's right, Hohiro," Sorceress said over their tac net. "The computer extrapolates a greater than ninety percent chance that the ruin was once a home."

More calls came in of other structures being discovered not only along the edges of the clear, but some were scattered about the center in an apparent grid fashion. The computer estimated that many of these were also possible homes.

Realization settled on the Sorceress, Captain Takamora and the searchers of the ruins. They had landed not in a clearing as had first been thought. The starships sat in what has once a thriving village. Something had destroyed it approximately six years ago. Or some _one_.

Hordak.

Probably as an example to others of the futility of resistance. So far, no corpses had been found. Hopefully, the people had been taken away before the village had been destroyed. If not, well, Hordak had a lot to answer for.

And it was high time he started making payments of the painful kind.

107


	18. Ch 16

Sixteen

Castle Brightmoon

Planet Etheria

2 September 2017

The two dropships carrying Alpha Platoon and the war machine plummeted through Etheria's atmosphere on course for Castle Brightmoon. The third ship bearing Beta Platoon peeled off in the stratosphere for Mystacor.

Feril led the way toward the target area. A powerful wave of storms was blowing across the continent and they were heading right into it. Winds buffeted the craft as she struggled to stay on course. Feril kept having to adjust her heading to the west as heavy winds slammed the ships from the east. The ships finally got ahead of the stormfront and settled into a less vomit-inducing ride.

The pilots found the landmarks necessary to orient themselves and continued on course for Brightmoon. Dropship number two lagged behind, searching for the main road leading to the castle; the APC carrying Alpha Platoon would be dropped off several kilometers south of the castle. Feril would survey the area from the air while Cobretti and Rockwell scouted the land around the castle looking for signs of a trap.

While it was true the castle had been abandoned, that did not mean there wasn't a force of robot troopers lying in wait for anyone investigating the castle for plunder or salvage, a ready-made trap for a platoon of soldiers not expecting trouble. However, Colonel Markson always expected trouble, so they were going in on high alert.

Feril turned in on final approach to drop off the war machine. Dropship two was in the process of dropping the APC off five kilometers south of the castle. The idea was to have the scouting of area around the castle completed by the time the APC arrived. If there were exterior traps in place, the colonel hoped Cobretti and Rockwell could spring them.

Jake glanced out the windscreen at the shadowy structure veering crazily about as Feril lined up for touchdown. He dropped his eyes back down to the control console before his stomach could start doing flip-flops. He was a ground-pounder. Flying was best left to the birds. The familiar sounds and vibrations of the fusion core coming online vibrated through the vehicle.

"Atomic batteries to power. Turbines to speed," Jake reported over the comm system.

Suppressing a grin, Adrian said, "Been watching the Batman tv series again, have we?"

"Adam West and Burt Ward, baby. The original dynamic duo."

The shadow of Castle Brightmoon loomed a quarter mile distant. Flood lights came on, bathing the immediate landscape in blinding white light. Feril flared out and set the ship down firmly on the hard-packed dirt road. "Down and clear," she reported. As soon as the words left her mouth, the war machine roared out of the bay and sped away toward the west side of the castle. Feril seemed to make the dropship leap back into the sky for aerial support.

The seats of the war machine had been replaced with a new kind that conformed to the body of whomever sat in it. This allowed Adrian and Jake to wear the Guardian suits in combat mode, operating the vehicle with a relative amount of comfort, without feeling cramped. The foot pedals operating the brakes had been enlarged slightly to allow for the blocky suit feet. Both men had commanded the armored gloves to retract into the gauntlets so that they could better handle the controls. The helmets were similarly stored in the collars so that they could use the headsets specifically designed for better operation of the war vehicle.

Information relevant to their surroundings filled the left side of Adrian's visor. A targeting reticle followed the movements of his right eye, allowing him to manipulate the features of the heads-up display. The inky blackness surrounding the castle was nearly impenetrable. The starlight function was having trouble illuminating the grounds due to the lack of light from the approaching storm. Instead of seeing a world in shades of green with little darkness, he saw more darkness than any green. To compensate, Adrian fired off a flare from a top aft compartment. It wasn't a traditional flare that threw off visible light; this one bathed the area in infrared illumination to better aid night vision devices like the system installed in the war machine.

The flare had the desired effect. Night turned into twilight bathed in shades of green. Adrian could now pick out the tall spires of the castle on the right and the dense wall of trees to the left. The sensors showed around one hundred meters between the castle and the forest. It was probably a firebreak to prevent a forest fire from affecting the castle.

Adrian looked to his right and took in the structural design. In the glow of another flare, he could see that the basic structure was shaped like a huge ball flattened to about a third of its diameter. Several spires jutted up into the night sky like lightning rods. He was unsure as to their purpose; however, nothing looked out of place. The entire design flowed naturally from one shape to another.

Nothing moved on the open ground or in the forest. The bushes and shrubs decorating the grounds close to the castle would normally be tended to and be too small to conceal anything but small animals. Since the castle had been empty for over five years, the carefully sculpted grounds had grown wild.

Several kilometers to the south, Colonel Markson was analyzing the images being transmitted from the war machine. The computer constructed a graphical representation of Castle Brightmoon as the war machine and the dropship circled the structure.

"Structure seems intact," Markson replied. He glanced at Queen Angella standing next to his chair. "No power, though."

"It was probably shut down before the castle was abandoned," the queen answered.

"All right, pilot. Set down on the main road. Immediate dust-off when we're clear. Then orbit the area with Feril," Markson ordered.

The dropship pilot acknowledged. Within moments, the APC bumped and shuddered. The driver powered out of the drop bay and sped along the packed dirt road leading to the castle.

"All right, people!" Apone barked. "Gear up! Two minutes. Get on it."

A corporal scrambled aft to the seat situated inside a revolving frame of support struts. It was the gunnery station for the top-mounted turret and its devastating twin Gatling cannons. Everyone else gathered up their personal weapons, checked them over one last time, and readied themselves for deployment. Any nervousness the soldiers felt evaporated in an instant. Long hours of training kicked in. Concentrate on the moment. Focus on the mission.

Anyssa and Dhalon hung toward the rear checking their weapons. The four-foot Quaedian was itching to get moving. When a battle loomed, he looked forward to it with an eagerness rivaling any Val-kyrie warrior. The princess was a little more reserved at the moment; when battle was joined, she could be as fierce as any feline.

Dhalon refused to carry any ballistic or energy weapons. He preferred close-quarters combat, something he shared with Jake Rockwell. His leather armor fit like a glove; it had been tailor-made by the Val-kyrie once the dust settled from the insurrection. The double-bladed battleax slung on his back, along with the pair of single bladed axes tucked beneath his belt had been modified. The keen edge of all three weapons had been ground down, bonded with Etherium alloy, and sharped to razor-sharpness. This ensured that the Quaedian fighter could go toe-to-toe with Horde troopers and literally chop them to pieces no matter how good their armor might be.

Anyssa was armed with a typical mix of weapons: An unknown number of knives hidden about her person. A quiver of arrows slung across her back with the knocks over the right shoulder. The remarkable compound bow that could compact itself into a small package she had clipped to her belt at the small of her back. The primary weapon was a powerful laser rifle that fired plasma bolts capable of punching through all known trooper armor currently in use. A plasma blaster pistol was holstered on the right thigh.

Corporal Frost and his Val-kyrie spotter, Marin, made their way to the back. Marin was outfitted with the same model rifle and pistol as Anyssa plus the usual Val-kyrie assortment of hidden knives. Both women wore the standard battle armor, similar to the formfitting pieces the Earth people had donned.

Frost was armed with a Sig Saur P226 chambered for 9mm parabellum rounds and was loaded with a 20-round clip. It had recently become the standard sidearm for the platoons. The primary rifle was an updated M43 pulse rifle firing the standard explosive-tipped caseless 11mm rounds. The magazine capacity had been increased to 100-rounds with a digital counter on the right side. The grenade launcher slung beneath the barrel could be swapped for one of two models. For battle outdoors, the M-203 was the preferred weapon. For combat within structures, the M-206 launcher was mounted. This weapon fired a much smaller grenade about the size and shape of a 12-gauge shotgun shell. Although the ammunition was smaller, the 4+1 magazine - four in the magazine and one in the chamber – packed plenty of firepower in an enclosed space.

Each platoon had four personnel armed with the M249 light machine gun. Two to a squad. Everyone else was outfitted like Frost. No flamethrowers or shotguns needed for this mission.

"All right," Apone boomed from the side hatch. "I want a nice _clean_ dispersal this time."

The APC lurched to a halt. The hatch panels popped out and split apart. Personnel spilled forth into the light rain. The platoon fanned out by squad and moved in on the front entrance to the castle. Second Squad moved to the war machine and used it for cover. Adrian and Jake were crouched on the other side of the machine, in full view of anyone within the castle. Their armor was closed up and weapons deployed. Wing was configured in assault mode with plasma projector on the left gauntlet, twin blaster assembly on the right, a seven-barreled enclosed Gatling gun that fired 10mm explosive shells behind the left shoulder, and rocket pod behind the right.

Apone scanned the area with binoculars. Nothing moved. No lights of any kind were visible. He waved Second and Third squads forward with the First and Fourth covering. Apone snapped open the cover to the door controls set in the wall on the right side. A few random taps confirmed what he suspected; the castle had no power.

"O'Rouke. See if you can get these doors unlocked," Apone ordered.

Private Catherine O'Rouke, the unit's computer specialist, darted up the steps and approached the panel. Gatling Arm slammed his back against the wall to the left of the door while Apone took up position with War Wing in front. O'Rouke ignored the activity around her as more soldiers took up cover positions and concentrated on her task. Water dripped from the edge of her helmet, making focusing on the panel a challenge. Releasing two clips on top allowed her to flip the panel down exposing the inner mechanism. While the castle was without power, the private carried a portable battery that, hopefully, would be powerful enough to at least release the lock and allow the doors to be pried open by hand. After a few tense moments of waiting, there was an audible pop and the doors parted several inches. Gatling Arm wedged his armored fingers into the gap and pulled the door aside with the power of hydraulic muscles.

War Wing and Apone darted inside to the second pair of doors, which were already ajar. The pair took up their position while a private set up, aiming his M249 at the doors. He nodded to Gunny's asking if he was set. Apone and War Wing carefully slid the doors all the way open, Wing snapping up his left arm and its plasma projector, pointing it into the gloom. The private walked heel-to-toe into the corridor, guided by only his shoulder light. War Wing and Apone followed along the edges, with the remainder of Second and Third squads bringing up the rear.

They encountered the first signs of damage only ten meters in. A large chunk of broken conduit and support structure hung down at an angle in the middle of the corridor, forcing the soldiers to move around it. Corridors branched off to the left and right, leading deeper into the castle. Apone issued the occasional explanation of what they were encountering as they explored the dead castle. The pace was slow and careful because, other than the Guardians with their night vision capabilities, the soldiers were limited to what they could reveal with their mounted lights.

Colonel Markson ordered motion trackers activated. Soon, the soft tapping of sonar pulses radiating outward accompanied the backdrop of an intensifying rainstorm outside. Satisfied that the search was going as planned, he issued more orders. "Quarter in search by twos. Third Squad secure the central corridor. Second Squad plus Gatling Arm continue to search the ground level. First Squad take the upper levels. Fourth Squad plus War Wing find the power core and see if it's intact. If so, try to power it up."

There was a flurry of replies of squad leaders acknowledging the orders.

Frost, Marin, Anyssa and Dhalon had been attached to Fourth Squad with the specific task of guarding O'Rourke. Sonya had loaned her one of Hawk's hacking and cracking devices, capable of infiltrating any known computer system. If anything could determine the status of the shutdown power core, Hawk's tech could.

Out in the APC, Colonel Markson and Queen Angella watched the selected monitors displaying images from various helmet cameras. Everywhere the soldiers went there were signs of a hell of a fight by the castle's defenders. There were plenty of dried bloodstains, but no bodies were in evidence, much to Angella's relief. That meant that someone returned to the castle after its fall to remove any bodies for a proper burial, no graves had been evident in Cobretti's survey of the castle grounds. So they much have been taken either to a nearby village, or to a collection point somewhere deep in the forest to the north. Inside, several pairs came across hastily erected barricades out of whatever had been handy. None of them had held against the superior firepower of Horde energy weapons.

Markson switched the primary screen over to a sensor overlay of the castle's underground structure. Dots representing the squad of people heads for the lower levels were displayed in a zig-zag pattern on the right side. They were currently navigating a stairwell and passing through the first sublevel.

The group paused at the landing for Sublevel Two. The trackers were not picking up any movement; but, that did not mean that there wasn't someone or something lying in wait for them. Conferring, they decided that Adrian would adopt one of his creature forms and investigate ahead of the squad. That was one reason why the colonel had sent him along.

Angella gasped in shock as a helmet cam caught Adrian reducing his armor to the stealth node six-pointed medallion, then transforming into a version of the Alien from Cameron's film. The creature tore off into the gloom down the stairs.

"Man, that's just creepy," the sergeant in charge of the squad growled.

"Just be thankful he's on our side," Dhalon said pointedly.

"Let's move out," the sergeant ordered, leading the way.

Shoulder lights probed ineffectually into the inky darkness of Sublevel Three. The Squad spread out at the bottom but kept within sight of one another as best they could. This level was a veritable maze of pipes and conduits for water, heating, electrical power and other utilities best left unmentioned. Pathways through the maze were barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

Angella informed them that the power core was in the center of the level. However, the control room was along the outskirts. And there was no direct route to it.

The squad waited tensely for Cobretti to return. The oppressive darkness heightened the claustrophobic feel of the chamber. Although the power core was shut down, the level was not without sound. They were too deep underground to hear the rainfall outside. Other sounds took its place. Unseen animals driven inside by the falling water, foraging for food, or making their home deep in the bowels of the castle, scurried about in the darkness. These sounds ratcheted up the tension a few more notches.

The only constant was the soft bleeping from the motion trackers picking up Adrian's movements. Fortunately, the critters running around were too small to trigger the tracker's threshold for registering movement. Suddenly, the bleeping stopped. Eyes darted about straining to see into the darkness. Muscles tensed, trigger fingers grew nervous.

"Anyone see anything?" the sergeant whispered.

Negative reports all around. The trackers were functioning properly. There was just no movement to lock on to.

A private off the left exclaimed, "I see something!"

His outburst was like a howitzer going off. People jumped at the sudden burst of sound, but everyone maintained enough control not to pull a trigger.

"What do you see?" the sergeant demanded.

A pause, then: "Two round lights about six feet off the ground." The private couldn't hide his nervousness, closer to fear. It was like the training op versus the six Guardians all over again.

"Color?" Frost inquired, having a feeling he knew who and what it was.

"Well?" the sergeant demanded when the poor kid didn't answer right away.

Swallowing his fear, the kid replied, "Kinda yellowish one moment and greenish the next."

"That'd be Cobretti," Frost confirmed. "He's in that B-movie creature form. Don't shoot him."

"I don't plan on it," the private snapped, sudden angry. Whether it was at Frost for pointing out the friendly or because his fear got the better of him in this dank and claustrophobic place, no one could be sure.

"Good. Because you'd only piss him off."

The Sergeant stepped forward, making a point of lowering his weapon. The others immediately around him followed suit. Only when it was clearly safe to approach did the creature come forward. Heavy footsteps of something massing a considerable bulk moved forward at a leisurely pace. The lights finally picked out a monster straight out of Hell, or Hollywood.

When Adrian needed to sniff out an area, he went with a form that only Hollywood could have come up with. The creature stood approximately six feet in height, was powerfully build with corded muscles evident in the arms and legs and was dressed in rags. The toes and fingers ended in wicked inch-long yellowed claws. The oversized head sat atop a pillar of muscle and sinew. The round eyes were set above a bulbous nose. The angular jaw framed a mouth filled with the pointed teeth of a meat-eater. Pointed ears on the sides of the head picked sounds outside the human auditory ranges. The skin was colored a sickly green almost the shade of artificial turf.

"Do you mind?" the sergeant snapped. "We're nervous enough as it is."

A quiet chuckle echoed over the tach net from Colonel Markson.

Adrian reverted from the CHUD form back into his natural human shape. The armor promptly expanded from the medallion to enclose its operator, minus the helmet. "There were lots of things to smell down here," Adrian explained when asked why he'd changed forms. The sublevel was musty from being sealed for years. He also caught the scents of lubricants, fried electronics, dried blood in places where bodies had fallen, and the detritus from years of critters living in the area. It was almost overpowering.

There were no Horde troopers lying in wait for them, however.

"All right. Let's find that control room and see about getting some power going in the place," the sergeant declared.

It took another fifteen minutes of careful searching to locate the control room. The Val-kyire and Dhalon stood watch outside the cramped room while O'Rourke went to work. The rest of the squad returned to the other sublevels to ensure there were no surprises.

O'Rourke went about her task in a methodical manner. The tool loaned her from Guardian Hawke was capable of more than just hacking. Its internal power source could provide the energy needed to jumpstart certain systems. In this case, the module provided power to energize the emergency batteries. This allowed her to start up the emergency generators that would take over in the event of a main power failure. Once the emergency systems were back online, it would be easier to restart the mains. Diagnostics indicated no major damage to the castle's power distribution system. There might be localized damage from the battles that had been fought in the corridors and rooms, but they could be isolated locally for repairs. O'Rourke made one last lookover of the status boards, then threw the main switches.

Seconds passed as the main reactor gradually powered up. As energy built up, relays clicked, conduits buzzed with electricity, and long dormant systems came alive. Lights throughout the castle flickered, stabilized and gradually brightened. The gloom inside the structure was chased away by panel lights, walkway strips and the occasional flood and spot lights. The sublevels, like the control room, were so densely packed with equipment that the lighting only illuminated the pathways through the maze of pipes, conduits and support braces.

All squads reported in that there was no enemy force lying in wait to ambush them. Colonel Markson made the decision to relocate to the castle. Fourth Squad would maintain a secure perimeter while everyone else – himself included – transferred equipment and supplies from the APC into the castle.

If the internal damage to Castle Brightmoon had looked terrible in the shoulder-mounted lights the soldiers carried, the brighter lights of the rooms and corridors made it look more like the warzone that it was. Only the throne room had gone unscathed. Queen Angella tried to hide her depression at the sight of what had become of her beloved castle, but people noticed and gave her her privacy.

Once the operation was complete, the colonel reported in to the _Eternia_ their current status. "That castle is as secure as we can make it," Markson told Captain Majourny. "The storm is going to keep anyone at bay until at least dawn. We'll try to get a better evaluation of the damage in the meantime. There don't appear to be any weapons emplacements, so defending against a Horde attack will be problematic if Hordak throws heavy stuff at us."

Jo-jo nodded. "We are camped out in what appears to be a village that had been destroyed around five to six years ago. There might be a road from here to the castle, but we can't tell anything until this storm lifts. We'll explore more in the daylight."

"Any word from the other platoons?"

Jo-jo shook her head. "Nothing yet. I don't expect to hear anything for hours. We may not hear anything from Beta Platoon until dawn at the earliest."

Both platoons had been instructed not to break radio silence unless they got into a dire situation. Delta would report in once they discovered the current status of Frosta. Beta would be extracting from the area of Mystacor before they reported in unless they were engaged by the enemy.

It either case, it was going to be a long night before the pieces of the puzzle that was Planet Etheria started coming together to form the overall picture. Once that was known, the Guardian force could get down to business recovering the swords of power.

And put a fear of the Guardians into Hordak.

113


	19. Ch 17

Seventeen

Dead Village Near Castle Brightmoon

Planet Etheria

3 September 2017

The Sorceress stood underneath the starship _Eternia_ at the base of one of the personnel ramps amidships. She was accompanied by a diminutive Japanese warrior; Captain Takamora. Passive sensors had picked up two machines approaching on a hardpacked dirt road the ran off in the general direction of Castle Brightmoon, and the pair was waiting to see what was coming. Other members of Charlie Platoon were scattered about the immediate area in defensive positions. The opening in the trees was situated roughly equidistant between the two grounded starships, a perfect setup for a crossfire.

The Sorceress advised caution, as the vehicles could not be positively identified without an active scan. While Lieutenant Denton had been unable to positively confirm the presence of Horde warships in orbit, Mirriam had been able to identify two glowing points holding parallel lines across the night sky once the storm had passed.

A blanket of misty fog had fallen across the clearing in the wake of the storm. The sun was slowly burning it off, but it would be a few hours yet until it was gone. Visibility was barely a hundred yards, but it would be enough to see the unidentified vehicles when they arrived.

Takamora hid his anxiety well. He did not like unknowns. Breaking radio silence wasn't an option with two warships in orbit searching for them. If it was Alpha Platoon returning, Colonel Markson wouldn't break radio silence to warn them.

A call came in from the observers out of sight on either side of the road. While they couldn't see anything, they were hearing the unmistakable sounds of a vehicle approaching. The sounds reverberated off the trees, so they couldn't be sure if was one vehicle or one hundred. Takamora passed the word for everyone to be on their toes and issued an order that under no circumstances was anyone to open fire without his direct order. All teams acknowledged the order.

Hohiro glanced over at his companion. The Sorceress stood at ease as if expecting a friend, not an unknown vehicle. Could it be that she knew who or what was coming? If she was reaching out with her telepathic ability, she showed no sign. If it was an enemy approaching, she would have already said something. So, Hohiro felt safe in presuming that it was either a neutral party approaching, or the vehicles that had been dispatched to Castle Brightmoon.

Faintly, the man's ears picked out the unmistakable sounds of something mechanical approaching. He concentrated on the noise as it steadily grew louder. There were also popping sounds. It took a moment for him to realize it was the sounds tires made moving along a gravel road. That meant that the approaching vehicle was on wheels. He glanced again at the Sorceress. She was smiling slightly, whether she was aware of it or not.

On a hunch, Hohiro was about to key the tac net and order his people to stand down when the lookouts along the road did it for him. They sighted the war machine on slow approach to the dead village. A Shrike APC trailed a few seconds behind. The only communication came from the pilots of the war machine saluting the hidden soldiers visible on the thermographic sensors.

Seconds after the alert, both vehicles slid out of the fog. The drivers turned in the direction of the _Eternia,_ driving up underneath the starship to hide under its bulky hull. The war machine pulled up alongside the lower boarding ramp, while the APC parked a further back.

Adrian powered down all systems, the whine from the reactor dying away moments later. He and Jake popped the canopy releases in their compartments and swung the panels up into their locked positions. "Honey! We're home!" Adrian called out, grinning.

Hohiro snorted and the Sorceress maintained a bland expression. Neither was surprised by the greeting, nor particularly impressed.

Colonel Markson strode across the damp grass to join the group. He shivered briefly from the cool morning air. "I've made contact with the other platoons. Lieutenant Howard reports he has successfully made contact with the Sickies."

"Selkies," the Sorceress corrected him. Again.

The colonel continued as if the woman had not spoken. "It took some doing, but the lieutenant managed to convince them that we are not Horde agents. Frosta's people grudgingly allowed Howard to see their queen. Claw's scans should be downloading to Falcon shortly."

Sorceress nodded. Falcon had just told her that she had the scans and was reviewing them now. "What did he promise?" she asked.

"Only that we would make an honest attempt at freeing the Ice Queen from her prison," Markson said. "They felt reasonably certain that it was Shadow Weaver who imprisoned her."

Sorceress nodded. "It would have to be her. I doubt Hordak would even bother. Exile to her kingdom would be enough for him as his forces move across the planet."

"Delta Platoon will be rejoining us later today. As for Beta Platoon, well, things went well up to a point."

Hohiro sighed, "How bad was the firefight?"

"Oh, there was no firefight," the colonel assured him. "Hawk successfully led a small party into Mystacor and gathered intelligence about the current goings on there. They even confirmed that Queen Castaspella is a guest in her own dungeon."

"But?" Adrian pressed.

"I resent that remark," Markson growled.

"There's _always_ a 'but,' colonel."

Markson sighed. " _But_ instead of leaving things as they were, Hawk decided to bring back a souvenir."

"Oh, no," Adrian groaned.

Markson nodded. "However, since Castaspella's cousin is masquerading as her, there's a chance no one will notice that the real one is missing for a while."

"Allepsatsac will hardly make an issue of it lest her real identity be revealed," Sorceress pointed out.

"So, once again we have to save the world," Markson sighed.

"Well, just a part of it. The rest will tend to itself," Sorceress promised.

A heavy silence fell over the group as each pondered what this mission to Etheria would entail. Hordak would not be like the foes they had already faced. He was evil incarnate. Ruthless. Cunning. Utterly without remorse. He would not hesitate to crush all life on Etheria and repopulate it with nothing but his few organic generals and legions of mechanical men. As the colonel had stated earlier, Guardian Command did not have the manpower to fight a full-blown war. Not yet. However, there were ways of fighting wars without overwhelming armies to field. Hordak would soon find out that there were those in the galaxy with the courage to fight on in the face of overwhelming odds.

Hohiro suddenly broke the silence. "We're being watched." Everyone tensed slightly, going on alert. "Off the west just beyond the tree line. About fifty yards away from us."

The group continued acting naturally, as if they were responding to one another. Captain Takamora subtly directed the nearest patrol to intercept the intruders. The Sorceress scanned them with her magical senses and determined that they were just children. Hohiro passed that along and told the team not to scare them unduly.

Anxious minutes passed as the group awaited word from the patrol. There were no calls over the tac net. Nothing. Suddenly, the squad of four men emerged from the forest with two children in tow. The children did not look frightened, nor scared. Not even uncertain. If anything, they appeared to be excited about something.

"You found them," the colonel stated flatly.

"They found us," the corporal in charge answered. The children couldn't have been more than nine or ten years old. While they looked around with open curiosity, their eyes kept being drawn back to the Sorceress. The corporal gestured to the girl. "This is Andre and her friend, Tanith."

Markson stepped forward and knelt before the children. "Was this your village?" he asked the children.

"No, sir," Tanith said, politely. He bravely met the colonel's eyes but could not maintain contact, despite the man putting on his most gentle face.

Andre supplied, "We live in a village across the river."

"Do you know what happened here?" Sorceress asked.

The children turned their young eyes up to regard the motherly figure. "Are you really the Sorceress?" Tanith countered.

"Yes, I am."

"You don't dress like in the pictures we've seen," Andre said, somewhat skeptical.

"Except for the hair," Tanith said.

The children agreed on that point.

Fortunately, the Sorceress had a ready answer for her new look. "This is my travelling attire. And it's considered rude not to answer someone's question."

The jovial attitudes the children had sudden changed to one of sadness. "We know what happened," Andre whispered. "It was destroyed by the evil monsters and their metal men."

"How long ago?" Adrian asked.

Tanith thought a moment. "Many years ago. At least five, I think."

That backed up the sensor readings taken by the starships. They indicated around six years.

"What about the people who lived here?" Markson inquired.

"Not sure," Andre confessed. "Mommy said they went away. Or maybe they were taken away."

"We found no bodies," Hohiro reported. "The people were probably taken away and the village destroyed as a warning."

Private O'Rourke stuck her head out the open hatch of the APC. "Colonel Markson. Call from Captain Majourny. Urgent." She ducked back inside before the colonel could acknowledge the summons.

"Sounds important," Markson said, offhandedly. Jake and the Sorceress stayed with the children while Markson, Cobretti and Takamora entered the carrier to see what was up.

Jo-jo's face filled the main screen in the control center. Though she tried to hide it, Jo-jo looked concerned. When the group appeared on her monitor, she said, "We may have a problem. We have been monitoring Horde comm chatter for almost an hour. Passive sensors have picked up a small Horde force moving due east."

"Heading?" Markson requested, a sinking feeling setting in his stomach.

"Straight for us, or near enough, she answered. "They bypassed the town of Thaymor and seem to be scouting the area. There are a number of unnamed villages dotted all around Thaymor and they appear to be investigating each one."

"We have two children outside who probably came from one of those villages. Is there anything near us?" Adrian inquired.

Jo-jo glanced at something out of view and nodded. "There is one about a quarter mile west of the Singing River." She consulted someone among the bridge crew. "It now looks like the Horde is heading straight for that village."

Adrian straightened. "Well, in the interests of being neighborly, I think we should go and introduce ourselves."

Markson groaned while the normally stoic Captain Takamora broke into a broad grin behind his back. While the Guardian Force didn't come to Etheria with the intent of liberating the planet, they couldn't very leave helpless villagers at the mercy of the Horde if there was something they could do about it. The colonel knew Adrian would take Gatling Arm, Claw and Falcon out to meet the enemy on his own authority as the commander of the group. If he couldn't control them, Markson figured he may as well support them.

The colonel ordered Takamora to pull two squads and get ready to move. The captain didn't disguise his pleasure at the orders. "Well, go on," Markson said to Adrian. "I know you people are just dying to say hello."

"Don't worry, colonel. I'll bring you back a souvenir," Adrian promised, grinning broadly.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Markson groused. Only Private O'Rouke heard it; she and the colonel were the only ones left in the carrier besides the driver up front.

O'Rouke had to cover her mouth and stifle a snicker. If she had looked at her commander, she would have seen a slight upturn of the right corner of his mouth.

Tanith and Andre led the four Guardians through the dense underbrush toward the river. They followed what appeared to be a game trail which had not seen a lot of use of late. A few minutes of travel through the trees brought the group to the main road the passed the dead village on the way to Castle Brightmoon. The branch leading to the makeshift camp for the Earth people was slowly being reclaimed by the forest and would likely disappear altogether in another year or so.

The clinging mists helped to hide them from prying eyes. Sounds from the wildlife were magnified, but the group traveled as silently as possible. A structure soon loomed ahead, a bridge arcing over the placid surface of the river. The location was a spot ideal for entering and exiting the river when the current was suited for such ventures. Tanith explained that there was a ford a short distance to the north where the river narrowed and was shallow enough for people to wade across.

The bridge could not, however, support the weight of the APC. It would have to be taken to the far bank by dropship. The racket from such an operation would be like sending up a signal flare. Captain Takamora and his squads were only minutes behind and heavily armed. They would have to make do with what weapons they could carry and pray the Horde did not bring any heavy armaments to the party.

Once across the bridge, Adrian sent Brad off to the north side of the village to await one of the squads. Hohiro planned to have his second squad covering the road. The two squads would move in to support the Guardians when battle was joined. They would also prevent anyone from escaping to the north or breaking through to the east.

Adrian, Jake, the Sorceress and the two children crept through the underbrush east of the village. They would normally have been within sight of it, but the misting fog prevented them from seeing what was going on. Conversely, if the Horde was already present in the village, they could not be seen skulking about the woods. However, if troopers were scanning the surrounding woods with thermal sensors, the group would be spotted instantly. Of course, the Horde had to suspect that the enemy was close by. Adrian was determined that by the time their presence was known, it would be way too late for the force commander to do anything about it.

Nature suddenly went quiet as a tomb. Adrian stopped and listened, ears straining. Panicked suddenly ripped the silence apart. Women, children and the odd male voices cried out in terror. Some bravely railed against the invaders only to be struck down. Tanith's eyes widened in fear. He heard a familiar voice amongst the chorus of voices. The boy mouthed his mother's name and suddenly tore off through the brush before anyone could stop him.

Adrian deployed Jake and the Sorceress on the eastern side of the village. "I'm going to the south with Andre. You two move in when the time is right. Use your best judgment." All the suits were capable of tapping into the tactical net the platoons used. Then he called Hohiro with an update on the situation. Hohiro responded back that his Second Platoon had met up with Claw and were moving into position. He was deploying Fourth Platoon in the woods near the edge of the road just outside the village. "Wait for Gatling Arm and Falcon to make their move. When they do, take the troopers down. Hard."

Jake and the Sorceress acknowledged the order and moved off toward the edge of the woods.

"He's going to make another one of his dramatic entrances, isn't he?" Jake said.

"You really have to ask?"

Robot troopers emerged like wraiths from the wall of mist as the Horde scout force entered the village. General Drax rode the scout vehicle behind the front line of troopers. It was flanked by troop carriers, with a deployed squad of drones bringing up the rear. Drax was confident that he could deal with anything he might find out here.

The troopers made short work of turning out the villagers. They moved from one shack to the next ordering, and sometimes dragging, people from their homes. Women screamed in terror. Children cried and clutched tightly to their parents. A few men tried to fight back, but the troopers made short work of the would-be saviors. Cowed into submission, they joined the growing group of villagers in the center of the clearing.

Drax climbed down from the turret of the scout vehicle, slow and methodical. Every move was designed to show off his impressive six-foot two-inch frame. He had a powerful build, accentuated by the trooper armor with the red emblem of Hordak's face flanked with batwings emblazoned in the breastplate. The helmet, crowned with a garishly red mohawk-like plume, left only his nose and mouth uncovered. Drax also wore a laser pistol on each hip, in holsters molded into the thigh armor. He strode toward the huddled group of villagers at a leisurely pace, giving them time to take in the superior force around them.

Visibility had increased as the sun slowly burned off the clinging mist. One could now see clearly to the back of the of the shacks. The tree line all around the clearing was still nothing more than grey indistinct masses.

"A starship entered the atmosphere sometime last night. It landed in this general area. If you know anything about it, tell us and we'll be on our way," Drax commanded.

Troopers continued to turn out shacks leaving nothing overlooked. Some of the structures had not been lived in in some time, but that didn't mean there wasn't someone hiding in them. A lone child came running out of the fog to the east and dropped into the group of villagers.

No one answered Drax's demand for information. He raised his hand and gestured; a scout drone lumbered forward to grab at the nearest villager. Before the mechanical hand could reach the intended target, an energy sphere darted out of the fog and slammed into the machine. Tendrils of electricity arced and sputtered all over the drone; the machine jerked and twitched as its systems overloaded and fried. The balancer gyro shorted out and the robot collapsed into the dust.

Two humanoid shadows emerged from the fog to the east. The same direction the child had dashed from. About twenty feet apart, the shadows resolved into a man on the right and a woman on the left. Both wore black jumpsuits with gray across the shoulders. Drax could just make out what appeared to be some type of patches on the shoulders. The man was unfamiliar to the Horde general. However, the woman was very familiar despite the much different outfit; he had heard the rumors that the Sorceress of Grayskull was still alive, but had discounted them as flights of fancy and wishful thinking. Apparently that wasn't the case at all.

Both tapped some sort of glowing medallion hanging from a silver chain around their necks. Drax gaped as suits of power armor constructed themselves seemly out of thin air to enfold the humans in an armored shell.

The Sorceress reached behind her shoulder to grasp the white rod that popped up from its storage place along the spine. The rod expanded into its battle form of a six-foot staff, capped with a representation of a falcon. She snapped the staff up, gripping it with both hands. The tapered end thickened, a falcon cap unfolding from the ball at the bottom end, and the staff split into two pieces. The Sorceress flipped the two halves up and held them like battleaxes.

The male suit completed its formation with a minigun mounted on each forearm. The armored human raised his left arm and pointed it at the nearest scout drone. The minigun spat flame as plasma bolts lashed out and drilled through the drone's formidable armor. The chest plate failed in seconds. It collapsed with its torso savagely mauled by the assault.

Another drone, this one with a weapons pods attached at the left elbow, lined up and returned fire. The pods contained three weapons in one module. The top opening was the barrel for a laser blaster. The middle port was the barrel of a railgun. The bottom port as the thirty-millimeter opening of a grenade launcher. It was the launcher that belched a puff of smoke. Several heartbeats later, the projectile exploded on contact with Gatling Arm's chest plate. The detonation slammed him to the ground, but with no damage other than make him angry.

Jake never got the chance to retaliate. As he was picking himself up off the ground, Falcon slapped the staff in her left fist over her shoulder, magnetizing it to her back, then stepped into the throw, hurling the abbreviated staff in her right fist with all the might the suit could provide. The medium drone rocked backward a step from the strike, the falcon head imbedded deep into its chest. The crippled machine sagged as its damaged systems overloaded. Sorceress raised her left hand, fingers curled as if holding an invisible bowl. The stricken drone rose several feet in the air in response to the Sorceress' magical command. Its failing systems rebelled at the new assault, but in vain. The Sorceress recalled the staff to her right hand, doing even more damage to the drone as it pulled free, and then crushed the machine by snapping her left hand closed.

Drax stared at the mangled mess that had once been a medium assault drone for a second or two before returning his gaze to the Sorceress, now holding aloft both staff pieces and readying herself for the next attack.

Gunfire erupted from among the buildings to the north. More humans showed themselves and blasted at troopers and drones with slug-throwing weapons. The slugs exploded on impact, blasting apart armor designed and shielded to withstand energy weapons. Within seconds, half a dozen troopers, one scout drone and a heavy assault drone mounting a weapons pod on each arm was left in sparking, smoking ruins on the dusty ground.

Another armored man stepped out from between two of the buildings where the new assault was coming from. This one had similar coloring to the one with the miniguns; however, this new one had some kind of claw assembly attached to each forearm. The general's suspicions of this new warrior's weaponry were confirmed when the armored man closed on a trooper and proceeded to systematically dismember the robot with the extendable claws. He then punched the extended assembly on his right arm into, and through, the chest of another trooper.

Drax ordered a retreat to regroup. More troopers fell to enemy fire, but the soldiers did not pursue. Whomever their commander was, he had his troops disciplined enough to not break away in the heat of battle looking to rack up a kill total.

Falcon and Gatling Arm moved ahead of the huddling mass of villagers. Jake barked at them to get down and stay there. Hohiro moved his squad up along the left to take cover among the shacks. The captain moved up to the huddling people, speaking quietly to them and urging them to move out under their cover to the tree line to the east. A few stray shots from Horde troopers scrapped that idea; Hohiro changed his mind and pulled a few more troops over to protect the civilians.

The captain took a moment to look around the battlefield. Everyone was in place to take on a renewed Horde assault that he knew was coming –except one person. Keying the transmit button, he asked, "Where is Cobra?"

Several shacks up on the left, a Horde trooper slammed backward into the closed door. The impact ripped it off its hinges and both door and robot slammed to the ground.

"Never mind."

Adrian followed Andre through the forest toward the south for about twenty yards before turning west. The course brought the pair up parallel to the back of the line of shacks on the south side of the village. Andre pointed to the fourth one from the nearest end, saying that it had been vacant for many months.

Adrian nodded and led the way through the small vegetable plots. The target shack had a garden that had long since died from neglect. There was a closed door at the back, with a window to the immediate right. Neither glass or curtain covered the window. It was, however, large enough for what he had in mind. He could hear an occasional crash as the troopers inside tore the place apart looking for anyone hiding within.

He turned to Andre. "Can you keep a secret?" When she nodded, he continued. "I'm going to show you something cool. I hope you don't scare easy."

"Compared to the Horde, I can handle anything," Andre declared bravely.

"Okay," Adrian replied. He began to change.

Andre's eyes grew as big as golf balls at the miracle taking place before her. Not with fright, but awe and even glee.

Two unsuspecting robot troopers continued to poke around the inside of the shack even though it was clear that no one was hiding within. They didn't often get the chance to cause random destruction, so these two were taking the opportunity to behave in an almost human manner.

Scraping sounds toward the rear of the structure drew their attention only after they stopped making such a racket themselves that their audio processors picked up the noise. The pair turned in unison and stopped dead. Computer brains programmed to deal with almost any situation imaginable by Horde technicians had never envisioned anything like the nightmare the robots found climbing in through the window.

The monster darted forward and slammed its armored right arm down on the domed head of the nearest robot. Metal crumpled like paper, cracking here and there. Sparks snapped, and wisps of smoke drifted through the rents in the now concave dome. The glow in the optics faded away with the computer collapsing into electronic death. The dead robot toppled to the floor in a heap.

The creature returned to the window while the other trooper was still paralyzed, stuck his arm out for Andre to wrap her arms around, and lifted her up and inside. She squealed with glee as her companion effortlessly brought her inside. The silver-eyed nightmare returned its attention to the trooper just in time. The computer brain had finally unlocked and kicked into action. The charging robot met a powerful sidekick from the beast's left foot. It was as if the robot had slammed bodily into a rock wall. The impact left a deep impression in the chest plate and slammed the machine backward into the closed door. The hinges held for only a fraction of a second before giving up and tearing away from the frame. Wood barrier and robot came crashing to the ground on the doorstep.

A gleeful Andre darted nimbly over the prone trooper and scampered across the dusty ground into the waiting arms of her relieved mother. "Mommy! Mommy! I told you and grand ma-ma I'd find a good monster!"

Jake and the Sorceress overheard that pronouncement. Over the private channel the battlesuits shared, Jake frowned, "Good monster? You don't think she's talking about-"

"You really need to ask?" the Sorceress sighed, cutting him off. They both had heard Hohiro's query over the platoon tac net, though neither one had acknowledged it.

"Never mind," the captain said.

The Syngenor stepped out and slammed its right foot down on the prone trooper struggling to get back on its feet. The damage from the kick had been considerable. The foot slamming down like a piledriver finishing the job.

The second robot vanquished, the creature turned its attention to the regrouping enemy force towards the west. It boldly walked across the main thoroughfare to stand between and several feet forward of the flanking Guardians.

"Always gotta make an entrance," Jake teased on the external speakers. Adrian ignored him.

General Drax and the monster locked eyes. A shiver ran down his spine that had nothing to do with the chill morning air. Drax had never seen nor heard of any species remotely like the thing that walked out of the shack. All black, it looked at first like some sort of insect, but wasn't. It took a moment for Drax to realize that what appeared to be bracers on the lower legs and gauntlets on the arms were really armor plates grown out of the creature's flesh. Backward-facing spikes jutted up from below the elbows. The general could imagine those wicked weapons plunging into foes trying to take it from behind.

The entire body was littered with detailing of ridges, depressions and sinew hinting at the power contained within the six-foot frame. An egg-shaped head was covered in horizontal ridges bisected by a vertical spine flaring up and off the apex at the back. Exposed teeth filled a boxlike mouth beneath a nose hidden by more plates rising vertically to meet the spine. The head sat upon a shaft of sinew for a neck and was protected by a tapered collar that flared up and around the back of the head.

All of that paled in comparison to those piercing silver eyes that tapered at the sides. Drax knew instantly that this was no mindless beast. Whether it was found in nature on some undiscovered planet or had been created in a lab, the general saw intelligence in those orbs. Cunning, ruthless intelligence and a desire to do nothing more than what it had been built for. To kill its enemies whether they be made of metal, or flesh and blood. For the first time in his life an emotion washed over Drax that he had never felt in all his years of faithful service to Hordak: Fear. He feared this creature and wasn't ashamed to admit it.

Shaking off the emotion, Drax ordered the frontline of troopers to open fire. Beams of coherent light blasted from a dozen stun wands but had no visible effect. In fact, not one of the beams touched the monster. All of them were stopped short by some sort of force field. Possibly a bio-electric field generated by the creature? An intriguing prospect.

"Troopers! Draw your swords!" General Drax commanded. The hiss of a dozen swords leaving scabbards answered his command. "Dismember it! We'll study it later."

Enemy weapons snapped up while the two armored figures flanking the creature moved to close ranks with the beast. However, the creature snapped up a restraining hand to hold back its allies. Incredibly, it stepped forward and waved the troopers in. A challenge, then. The robots rushed forward, fanning out to encircle the foolish monster. It looked left, then right in leisurely movements. Drax thought the only weapons the enemy beast had were the spikes jutting backward off the back end of the gauntlets and brute strength. He was wrong. A tensing of specific muscles in the forearms caused twin bonelike claws to snap out from beneath the gauntlets of the back of powerful hands. The general began to rethink sending out the troopers.

The Sorceress keyed the tac net with a glance of her left eye to the appropriate icon. "Be ready. As soon as Adrian takes out the troopers, he plans to drop to the ground to open lines of fire for you," she advised. "Claw, he wants you to ensure that the general doesn't get away. If he gets in that vehicle and makes a run for it, make sure he doesn't get far."

"Ja," Brad answered. "Claw and I are ready. Battle form should be more than enough to stop that vehicle. Its armaments are light. No threat there."

Hohiro chimed in. "You and Gatling Arm will still be in the way."

"Shoot around us," Sorceress replied, thankful the helmet hid the slight smile on her lips.

The Japanese man muttered something that was most likely a curse in his native language. "Lady, sometimes you're as crazy as Cobretti."

"No need for insults," she returned lightly.

There was no more time for levity. The first robot trooper made its move. The Syngenor twisted to let the machine impale itself on the left arm spike. It continued the turn, letting the dying machine sail on into the trooper that had been standing opposite it. A second machine darted in only to have its chest plate pierced by a pair of claws. Drax flinched as the shafts punched through the back of the robot. While they looked like bone, those claws were anything but.

With a shocking degree of speed and dexterity for something that looked like a lumbering brute, the Syngenor met each attack twisting, turning, ducking and even dancing out of the way of a sweeping sword. The air rang with the sounds of metal slamming against carapace armor, claws puncturing armor plate.

The fight was over in seconds. A dozen robot carcasses lay sparking and twitching in the dust. The Syngenor turned to face General Drax once more. Long talons curled into tight fists, joints cracking and popping like gunshots. Man and monster engaged in a staring contest with each knowing the final battle between their small forces was about to commence. Who would blink first?

"Get ready," Sorceress whispered over the tac net. She maintained a telepathic link to Adrian so she could relay what he was planning. His feelings almost overwhelmed her with the desire to punish the Horde lackey. But he reigned in those feelings for a more objective goal. One the Sorceress approved. "Now!"

Simultaneously, the creature's hands snapped open, sheathing the claws as it dropped flat on its face in the dirt. Rifle fire pierced the air, popping like firecrackers. Gatling Arm opened up with his miniguns. Claw worked his way along the enemy's left flank, waiting for his opening. Falcon launched the half-staff in her right hand in a repeated mantra: launch-strike-retrieve-repeat. With her left staff, Sorceress deflected laser bolts, the occasional railgun slug and even displayed a wicked backhand, knocking away a 30mm grenade as if she were playing tennis.

General Drax scrambled to his feet and made a mad dash for the scout vehicle, explosive rounds impacting the ground around him. He made it to the driver's hatch, twisted the handle and wrenched the door open. He had just made it inside and slammed the hatch closed when explosive-tipped rounds splashed against the armor like rain on the metal roof.

Drax powered up the drive systems, glancing out the forward viewport. The monster was making a beeline right for him! While the scout was not heavily armed or armored, it did have weapons. Using the fire control panel, Drax swung the turret around and snapped off a blast into the ground ahead of the black terror streaking toward him. It wasn't a direct hit, but the explosion of dirt and blast wave hurled the beast away to right. It hit the ground hard, rolling to a halt on the doorstep of an empty shack. Drax waited long enough to be sure it wasn't getting up to resume the attack, then slammed the scout into gear and backed away from the battle in a bid for freedom.

Several drones did not get out of the way quick enough and were ground under by the vehicle. Drax spun the wheel and turned away from the enemy fire. Rear tires spun, kicking up a rooster tail for several heart-stopping moments before finding purchase. The scout roared away, quickly putting the battle in the distance. The general breathed a sigh of relief after about ten seconds when it appeared that he was clear of the enemy.

He had no idea who he was dealing with.

Sensors picked up something small jetting into the air behind and to his right. The trace quickly got confusing, as it appeared that the object was rapidly growing in size. Drax did not have time to ponder it as something huge slammed into dirt road directly ahead. Drax slammed on the foot pedals, braking frantically, but Claw had timed his jump perfectly. The Guardian stuck the ground in its fifteen-foot battle form and pointed the right arm forward. Retracted claws snapped out and were launched into the nose of the fleeing scout on an extension of Etherium links leading back to the right forearm. The impact stopped the vehicle cold even at its occupant vainly tried to brake to a halt.

"This is as far as you go, Hordling," Brad announced over the external speakers.

In the driver's seat, Drax swallowed the lump of bile suddenly welling up in his throat as an armored hand reached out for him.

123


End file.
